Four Found Murdered in SJ Home

Four bodies were found in a house in Winslow Township, authorities said Thursday night. The two men and two women were in their 30s and the bodies were discovered by an officer who walked into the one-story bungalow-style home, according to Prosecutor Lee Solomon.

"We are investigating this as a homicide; we are attempting to determine if it may have been drug-related," Solomon said.

Authorities were alerted that there might be a problem at the house at 122 Stevens Ave. on Wednesday, when someone called police to report a missing woman, Solomon said. Police went to the home looking for the woman, identified by the Courier-Post of Cherry Hill as Una Bethune of Winslow Township. Authorities did not think the woman lived at the house, according to Greg Reinert, a spokesman for the Camden County prosecutor's office.

Officers could not enter the house on Wednesday and did not get inside until 6 p.m. Thursday.

"They could not gain entry until the owner was located," Solomon said. He said the owner, an elderly woman, provided a key to a relative, who gave it to police so they could investigate.

An officer found Bethune and the others, the newspaper reported. Authorities said drug paraphernalia was in plain view.

Autopsies on the bodies were scheduled for Friday morning and identities of the other victims were not immediately available.

One neighbor told the Courier-Post that the house had frequent visitors. "The neighborhood itself is quiet," said Elwood T. Lestridge Jr., "but they just came in and out all the time. It's just the younger generation over there."

Located in the West Atco area of the township, the home is in a rural, but fast-growing, area of southern Camden County. Police were keeping traffic of off Stevens Avenue late Thursday night, and Solomon said authorities were canvassing the area.

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Author: 6-ABC-AP