4 Found Slain In Mount Airy; Victims Appear To Be Family

Four people who had apparently been slain were found in a house in Frederick County on Friday, Maryland State Police said.

The four, who were in a single-family home on Contour Road in the Mount Airy section of the county, were described by Maryland State Police spokesman Greg Shipley as a man, a woman, a girl and a boy.

Shipley said that it was not clear exactly how they died but that police were not actively searching for suspects.

All four had one or more wounds, and none had been identified positively by late Friday. However, Shipley said, it appeared that all the victims belonged to one family.

The discovery of the bodies came after a friend of the residents of the house went there after not hearing from them.

After looking through a back window and spotting a body, the friend called police about 5:40 p.m.

State police went into the house and found the four bodies.

Shipley said police found no sign of forced entry into the house. A neighborhood resident said she heard that police had to break into the premises.

Several neighbors interviewed Friday night said they were not well acquainted with the family living at the house.

The neighborhood is about 12 miles east of Frederick and about the same distance northeast of the Germantown area of Montgomery County.

Shipley said the house was in the split foyer style, in a neighborhood of half-acre lots.

Neighborhood residents expressed surprise about the grisly discovery.

"This is a pretty quiet neighborhood," one said. Another said, "Nothing ever happens here."