Twin 5-year-olds were found dead inside a Bronx apartment on Monday, days after the kids were sent home from school for being sick.
The two children -- a boy and a girl -- were discovered around 11 a.m. in a home on East 175th Street between Monroe and Topping avenues in the Morris Heights neighborhood, FDNY and NYPD officials said.
First responders rushed to the residence when the twins' mother called 911 after finding them unresponsive, NYPD Assistant Chief Ben Gurley said Monday afternoon. The twins were pronounced dead at the scene.
Much remains unclear about what happened to the children, but investigators said the kids had been sick for several days and had been sent home from school last week; the pair stayed home from school on Monday. What they were sick with and the extent of their symptoms is not yet clear.
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The NYPD said, so far, there are no signs of foul play nor injuries on their bodies, and there is no history of domestic violence from anyone in the home. Members from the FDNY also tested the air and found no signs of carbon monoxide.
News of the tragic deaths, just one week before Christmas, stunned neighbors.
"Everytime they see you they would hug you," neighbor Jenny Rodriguez said. "It's so heartbreaking."
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The father, who was not home at the time, was being questioned by police Monday afternoon after rushing home from work. Their mother, meanwhile, had been admitted to the hospital for shock and emotional trauma.
Pastor Randholf Andujar runs a food pantry on Mondays in the basement of the building where the twins lived. He said he saw them and their mother at the front of the line every week.
"She was really sweet, always taking care of them. They were respectful, the lady was respectful," said Andujar. "Every time they’d see you they would hug you...nice kids. It's just heartbreaking."
