Updated

Texas authorities are investigating a possible murder-suicide that left a married couple and their 5-year-old daughter dead, police said Friday.

Officers from the Harris County Sheriff's Office were dispatched to an apartment near Spring after family members alerted police that they wanted to conduct a welfare check.

"We were told that family members had tried to contact them since earlier this week to no avail," Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said at a press conference. "This time they were out in the area and decided to come to the actual location. They summoned the policing office for assistance because there was no answer yet they saw the cars of the individuals."

GEORGIA MOM GUSHED ABOUT HER CHILDREN DAYS BEFORE SUSPECTED MURDER-SUICIDE

Gonzalez said they found a 36-year-old male, a 37-year-old female and their 5-year-old child dead inside the apartment. Their identities were not released to the public. A weapon was recovered at the scene, but authorities did not offer specifics.

Family members are "traumatized by what has occurred," the sheriff said, calling the case a "total surprise."

"There were no apparent issues that they knew of or any type of cries for help or anything like that. They just came out and discovered them like that," he said.

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Gonzalez said the situation seemed to be one "stemming from domestic violence." "These are always the most horrific scenes when there's a child involved," he said. "We simply can't make any sense of it."