By admin 
LITCHFIELD PARK, AZ (AZFamily) — Two bodies found buried in the backyard of a Litchfield Park home may be those of the homeowners — a couple whose adult son is now the prime suspect in a double homicide investigation, Avondale police said.
Read more Appeals court rules Trump can’t build White House ballroom without congressional approval
Investigators have not officially confirmed the identities of the two victims. However, the Maricopa County Office of the Medical Examiner’s website lists autopsies as pending for two unidentified individuals with the last name Flores, ages 69 and 63. The date of death is listed as Aug. 6, the same day the bodies were discovered.
Victims linked to the home’s owners
Those ages match the homeowners, Hector and Larissa Flores. Public records show Hector Flores was a realtor and Larissa Flores was a nurse practitioner who specialized in psychiatric care.
The couple also lived at the home with their adult son, Matthew Flores, 27, who is now named as the prime suspect and is believed to have fled the United States.
The Flores Semyonov family is devastated by recent events. They are fully cooperating with law enforcement. Because this is an ongoing investigation, the family respectfully asks for privacy during this difficult time. Their deepest gratitude is extended to their loved ones, neighbors, and the community at large who have expressed concern.
The U.S. Marshals Service and the FBI are assisting in the search. Police have not disclosed where in the world Flores may be.
The investigation began as a missing persons case when a husband, wife and their adult son were reported missing. Detectives said they suspected foul play from the start.
State of the remains
Avondale Police Officer Daniel Benavidez said the bodies showed signs of decomposition but declined to specify how long they were buried.
“I can’t tell you how many hours or days, but what I can say is that the bodies are in a state of decomposition,” he said.
Lauren Meckel, a forensic anthropologist, said those early signs can take several forms. Meckel studies human decomposition at one of the largest body farm research facilities in the world, the Forensic Anthropology Center at Texas State.
“It could mean anything. It could mean that they’re seeing color changes in the face and in the abdomen. That’s usually where you start to see it first,” Meckel said.
How environment affects decomposition
Meckel said the rate and nature of decomposition depend heavily on where a body is left. Because the victims were buried rather than left in the open, the process may have been slowed.
“If a person is killed and then they are buried, that actually can slow down the decomposition process. Flies don’t live under the ground, so they wouldn’t be colonized by flies if they were immediately put into the ground,” Meckel said.
In Arizona’s desert heat, direct sun and triple-digit temperatures can accelerate the breakdown of remains. Being buried, Meckel said, may have preserved more evidence for investigators.
DNA & remains
Retired Phoenix cold-case Sgt. Troy Hillman, author of “Chasing Down the Zombie Hunter,” said modern DNA technology can still yield results even when decomposition has progressed.
Read more Man charged with murder after stepfather’s dismembered remains found in luggage
“It does make it more difficult, but it’s not impossible to get DNA and recover DNA from their clothing, from their fingernails, from other things on their body. There’s always a hope,” Hillman said.
Hillman said the condition of the remains may also help investigators determine a cause of death.
“If it’s not an advanced state where somebody’s almost bones, which I don’t think is the case here, I really don’t know, they can tell different things — how they died, were they stabbed, were they maybe suffocated,” Hillman said.
Hillman said investigators are still working to establish the basic facts of the case.
“Trying to figure out, again, who, what, where, when, how, and why,” he said.
The remains were found buried near a pool in the backyard. Neighbors said construction on the pool wrapped up last month.
Inside the home
Benavidez said investigators also found evidence of a possible cover-up inside the residence.
“What I can say that we identified is a large amount of blood and we also identified what we believed is evidence in an attempt to conceal that blood,” he said.
It is not known when the victims were last seen alive or which family member requested the welfare check that led to the discovery.
Investigation ongoing
Neighbors said construction on the pool near where the bodies were found wrapped up last month. Avondale police said three vehicles have been processed for evidence, though it is not clear how they are connected to the case.
A neighbor reported seeing a man driving slowly in the area before officers arrived. It is not known who that person was or whether the encounter is related to the investigation.
Joanne Nix, who had a hair appointment Thursday at a home next door to the crime scene, said the discovery caught the neighborhood off guard.
“This is not the neighborhood you would think something like this would happen, you know, that they’d be buried in the backyard,” Nix said.
See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it.
Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here with a brief description.
Read more Family of man shot and killed by Peoria Police files wrongful death complaint