A Milpitas family was found dead in what appeared to be a suicide, authorities said

Four members of a family whose bodies were found in their Bay Area home this week died in an apparent suicide, according to authorities.

Lieutenant Tyler Jamison of the Milpitas Police Department said during a televised news conference that all four people were found with one gunshot wound. He said the investigators suspect that the husband, Vinh Nguyen, 36, killed his wife and two children with a gun marked as his and then recovered at the scene.

Police identified the mother as Betty Pham, 36, but did not release the names of the couple’s nine-year-old boy or four-year-old girl.

“We are very saddened by this tragedy,” said Jamison. “The loss of their lives was avoidable, and we urge those who need it to seek support, so that similar incidents can be prevented from happening again.”

Four bodies were found on Tuesday night, when the police arrived at the family’s home to check on their well-being. Relatives told authorities that they had not heard from the family for three days, and that Pham and Nguyen had not been showing up for work at the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, according to Jamison.

When police entered the apartment, they found Pham and two children in their beds with gunshot wounds to the head, according to Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner records. Nguyen, who suffered two head wounds, was found with a gun in his right thigh, records show, and several shell casings in the apartment.

Jamison said the motive for the shooting is still under investigation and did not release further details about the case. But coroner’s records show that relatives were becoming more concerned about Nguyen, as he and Pham were divorcing. They told investigators Nguyen suffered from depression, insomnia and had recently purchased a 9-millimeter semiautomatic handgun, coroner’s records show.

Jamison said there had never been any police calls to the home.

“It was the first time we contacted them as the police department,” he said.