TX - Harless family, parents & 4 children found dead in vehicle, San Antonio, June 2020

[Richrd]

- Harless Family Identified -

- San Antonio,
Bexar County, Texas -
- Thursday, 4 June 2020 -​

• 
  
  • Jared Esquibel Harless, 38
  • Female, 36
  • Male, 4
  • Female, 3
  • Female, 1+
  • Male, 11-months

6)) Stars and Stripes:
Army identifies Fort Sam Houston soldier found dead in apparent murder-suicide

7 )) Express New dot Com:
Father in suspected murder-suicide of San Antonio family was Fort Sam GI

8)) CNN:
6 members of military family were found dead in an apparent murder-suicide - CNN

9)) NBC Television:
Neighbors reeling from 'horrible tragedy' after family found in apparent murder-suicide

10)) Google™ Supplements & Updates:
Jared Esquibel Harless, 38 - بحث Google

11)) Historically:
Causes of Death :: Carbon Monoxide Asphyxia
Manners of Death :: Homicide (5) & Suicide (1)

12)) National Domestic Violence Hotline:
1-800-799-SAFE ::: 1-800-799-7233
​

Asphyxia = Body Deprived of Oxygen
Booby Trap = Deadly Device Activated by an Unsuspecting Person
CISD = Critical Incident Stress Debriefing
CNN = Cable News Network
Coroner = Death Investigation Coordinator
EMS = Emergency Medical Services
+Gestation = Nine Months from Conception to Delivery
Haz-Mat = Hazardous Materials
Jargon = Words used by a Particular Group
LE = Law Enforcement
ME = Medical Examiner
Mod = Moderator
MSM = Main-Stream Media
NBC = National Broadcasting Company
Newbie = Inexperienced Newcomer
PD = Police Department
+PPD = Postpartum Depression
+PTSD = Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
RIP = Rest In Peace - Condolences
SAPD = San Antonio Police Department
SUV = Sport Utility Vehicle
SWAT = Special Weapons and Tactics
TOS = Terms of Service
TOX = Toxicology - Foreign Substances in a Body
WS = Websleuths

Four Little Lambs
Reunited With Their Creator.
​

[Contribution # 7346
Merged Thread # 525891]
.

 

[carbuff]

 

[madfrank]

Wow. Just wow.

The bodies of a husband, wife, four children and two cats
..
On the front door was a “cryptic note” with military jargon, the chief said.

A member of the military helped police with a translation: “Bodies or people [?] inside, do not enter,” the chief said.

It continued: “The animals are in the freezer.”
..
Chief McManus said the family was found in the back of a small SUV, investigators said.

The cats were in a basket in the front seat, he said.
​

Update: Army identifies soldier found dead with family on Thursday

​

 

[drama_farmer]

Too bad he wasn't more specific in his note. It looks like it took responders quite a long time to figure out the entire family was in the suv in the garage. Maybe he planned on killing the pets first and preserving them in the freezer for some warped reason. IMO

 

[Vaccine]

Unless some of the children are multiples (meaning twins or triplets), the mom was pretty much constantly pregnant for 4 years straight. I wonder if she suffered from PPD. Perhaps he suffered from PTSD. Idk, I am just throwing out ideas to try to make any sort of sense out of this.

My initial reaction is that both parents agreed to this. Them all being in the back seat together, the cats in a basket together in the front seat, the initial report saying it was a suicide instead of saying murder-suicide (which obviously no matter what it is a murder suicide because of the kids but the word choice stuck out to me), etc.

I don't see why people do this. Why? Why do you need to take your innocent children and innocent pets with you? Heartbreaking.

Unless they were a blended family, the article has got the ages of the children wrong. I dont know many mothers of a 1 year old and an 11 month old.

 

[TristanP]

Unless they were a blended family, the article has got the ages of the children wrong. I dont know many mothers of a 1 year old and an 11 month old.

A one year old is anywhere between 1 and 2 years old. They could have been 9-12 months apart and that would work out age wise.

 

[Vaccine]

A one year old is anywhere between 1 and 2 years old. They could have been 9-12 months apart and that would work out age wise.

Oh of course. I need to go to sleep!

 

[TristanP]

Oh of course. I need to go to sleep!

Lol it’s ok. I answered the same question for someone on Reddit this morning. It’s automatic to think 12 months for a 1 year old. It would have been better if they had said 18 month old or however old he/she is between 1 and 2 but maybe they didn’t know the birthdate at the time of the article.

 

[bears10]

“The only time he would come out or I would see him out or we heard him out was when the neighborhood kids would be on the cul-de-sac playing ball, and their ball would hit his garage door and he would come out furious, just yell at them,” he added. “And that was the only time we would see him. I think he went out once to mow the lawn or something. That was it. It was very, very weird.”


JC said neither he nor other neighbors knew the family. Harless and his family appeared to never go out to shop, he said, instead having “mounds upon mounds of Amazon boxes” delivered. He said he never saw the children playing in the yard and Harless’ wife rarely ventured out.

“Through a window, we saw the little children once inside the house. It was dark and their shades were open. The house was very close. It was very strange, It was really, really strange,” JC said. “I would see him come into the house from work in his military dress in his van, reverse it into the house very quickly, shut the garage door and that was the end of it.


Father in suspected murder-suicide of San Antonio family was Fort Sam GI

 

[branmuffin]

Unless some of the children are multiples (meaning twins or triplets), the mom was pretty much constantly pregnant for 4 years straight. I wonder if she suffered from PPD. Perhaps he suffered from PTSD. Idk, I am just throwing out ideas to try to make any sort of sense out of this.

My initial reaction is that both parents agreed to this. Them all being in the back seat together, the cats in a basket together in the front seat, the initial report saying it was a suicide instead of saying murder-suicide (which obviously no matter what it is a murder suicide because of the kids but the word choice stuck out to me), etc.

I don't see why people do this. Why? Why do you need to take your innocent children and innocent pets with you? Heartbreaking.

Reminds me of Andrea Yates killing all her kids. She had five kids under the age of seven. She and her husband were members of an obscure religious group called Quiverfull. All fine and dandy to have umpteen kids like the couple on TV but if postpartum depression is involved then all bets are off. Yates had been treated for postpartum depression several times over the years.

Without knowing the circumstances and the fact that even the cats were in the vehicle as well, in a basket, I agree that perhaps both parents may have decided the outcome for themselves.

Perhaps the children and pets were already dead when placed in the SUV.

I have no idea of the age of the vehicle, but according to experts, newer vehicles are much less likely to cause CO poisoning because of the catalytic converter. The converter burns the gas at such a high temperature all the deadly gases are burned off. The most someone in a vehicle would get is a terrible headache. The expert lists newer vehicles as those less than 11 years old. The expert says most deaths in this day and age related to CO poisoning are to do with faulty furnaces and other home appliances. However, the expert says, if there is a fault in the line before the catalytic converter more CO would be released.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmo...ison-drayton-valley-conklin-exhaust-1.4484037

 

[Brunchmom]

I hope this doesn't offend anyone, considering I am newbie to posting in the Websleuths community!! But, is there a way to update the title for this thread with the correct spelling of the last name? Please don't come for me!! Blame it on my OCD!

 

[Laughing]

Update: Army identifies soldier found dead with family on Thursday

@Brunchmom , clicking Report brings a post to a moderator's attention. Reporting my post, asking for the spelling correction.

Now you know!

 

[Brunchmom]

Update: Army identifies soldier found dead with family on Thursday

@Brunchmom , clicking Report brings a post to a moderator's attention. Reporting my post, asking for the spelling correction.

Now you know!

Thank you for letting me know!!!

 

[cds0902]

Unless they were a blended family, the article has got the ages of the children wrong. I dont know many mothers of a 1 year old and an 11 month old.

I thought it read age 1 plus!

 

[cds0902]

I feel this happened overnight, carrying sleeping babies to the car, possibly drugging mom w/o her knowing.

 

[CocoChanel]

There appears to be some differences in neighbors’ description of the family’s appearance outdoors. From the link posted earlier:
Father in suspected murder-suicide of San Antonio family was Fort Sam GI

JC said neither he nor other neighbors knew the family. Harless and his family appeared to never go out to shop, he said, instead having “mounds upon mounds of Amazon boxes” delivered. He said he never saw the children playing in the yard and Harless’ wife rarely ventured out.

And from another link:
Army identifies Fort Sam Houston soldier found dead in apparent murder-suicide

Neighbors told FOX San Antonio that the deceased family, who moved to the neighborhood in January, did not appear “out of the ordinary” and could often be seen spending time outdoors.

Since they had only been in that home since January, and the “Stay Home/Stay Safe” directive was in place since mid-March, I guess that is at least one factor in the discrepancy. Perhaps they were outside at first, but then hunkered down with the quarantine. There are many individuals whose mental health has suffered since the lockdown. I drive past a mental health treatment facility every day on my way to work, and since the end of March the parking lot has been full when it never was before. I think it is not necessarily the “lawless” who are responsible for family tragedies such as this. IMHO it may also be the hopeless who have been gripped by a force that overwhelms.

 

[happyday]

There appears to be some differences in neighbors’ description of the family’s appearance outdoors. From the link posted earlier:
Father in suspected murder-suicide of San Antonio family was Fort Sam GI


And from another link:
Army identifies Fort Sam Houston soldier found dead in apparent murder-suicide


Since they had only been in that home since January, and the “Stay Home/Stay Safe” directive was in place since mid-March, I guess that is at least one factor in the discrepancy. Perhaps they were outside at first, but then hunkered down with the quarantine. There are many individuals whose mental health has suffered since the lockdown. I drive past a mental health treatment facility every day on my way to work, and since the end of March the parking lot has been full when it never was before. I think it is not necessarily the “lawless” who are responsible for family tragedies such as this. IMHO it is may also be the hopeless who have been gripped by a force that overwhelms.

It does seem like a mental health crisis. I thought the descriptions of the family were interesting too. From March on we too have been staying in and have “mounds” of Amazon boxes delivered. It’s pretty typical right now. I live in the SA area and the neighborhood streets have been pretty darn quiet during the pandemic. And before the pandemic after they moved here, it was winter so not much going outside anyway. I think people sometimes just like to say they knew something was up after the fact. And probably something was off, but they couldn’t put their finger on it. It’s such a tragedy. I think we all knew that everyone staying inside w/only family and not much outside contact was going to lead to a big mental health/abuse/domestic violence/addiction crisis and we are definitely seeing the effects now. So sad.

 

[madfrank]

I've been in the H-E-B, about five minutes away from their place, where I imagine they shopped -- just regular people like you and me; and therein lies the mystery, and the horror.

 

[bears10]

It does seem like a mental health crisis. I thought the descriptions of the family were interesting too. From March on we too have been staying in and have “mounds” of Amazon boxes delivered. It’s pretty typical right now. I live in the SA area and the neighborhood streets have been pretty darn quiet during the pandemic. And before the pandemic after they moved here, it was winter so not much going outside anyway. I think people sometimes just like to say they knew something was up after the fact. And probably something was off, but they couldn’t put their finger on it. It’s such a tragedy. I think we all knew that everyone staying inside w/only family and not much outside contact was going to lead to a big mental health/abuse/domestic violence/addiction crisis and we are definitely seeing the effects now. So sad.

I get mounds of amazon boxes delivered all the time, covid or not lol. I agree with you about people liking to say they knew something was up after the fact. I actually found the neighbor JC's comments kind of intense.... I mean, the family just died, you admit you didn't really know them, so why jump to bashing the dad a day or two after they died?

 

[Vaccine]

The most likely scenario - the father killing the rest of the family - would follow a pattern of a rise in domestic violence from controlling men during the pandemic.

But the logistics of all being in the car and the treatment of the pets is pretty odd. Did they go there under duress or were they placed there afterwards? And if you are busy killing your family why then the care to leave a note to protect the finder? A mix of sensibilities.