BEAVER FALLS, Pa. -- The search for whoever killed a Beaver Falls couple execution-style has widened to include the FBI and police detectives from El Paso, Texas.
Two young girls found their parents, Richard Warren Harper and Demetria Harper, shot in the head after masked men forced their way inside the family's Second Avenue home this week, police said.
The Harpers' bodies were discovered in the basement of their home at about 11:30 a.m. Tuesday. Police suspect the two 32-year-olds were killed sometime between Monday night and Tuesday morning.
WTAE Channel 4's Shannon Perrine reported the couple's 8-year-old and 10-year-old daughters led a relative to the victims after the relative stopped at the house for a visit.
"We believe that it's an action that was taken against this family here," Beaver Falls Police Chief Charles Jones said, adding that police believe the incident was not random.
No motive has been established.
"To me, they were normal people. There was never people in and out of that house constantly," neighbor Penny Clawson said. "It was just a bunch of kids playing over there, so for somebody to target them, it's surprising to the outside world. I mean, nobody knows what they did in their home and nobody knows what we do in our home."
Police would not comment on whether the couple was bound before being killed. Perrine reported that the girls were locked inside a room in the house during the shooting.
"Any homicide is very traumatic, especially when it involves young children. It's a delicate situation; they were witnesses and we have to interview them," Jones said.
Richard Harper worked as a care provider for handicapped people in their homes and was an assistant coach for the Beaver Falls Little Tigers youth sports program.
"He was a well-spoke-of guy," said Tony Walker, a family friend. "Everybody knew him. He got along with everybody, didn't bother anybody, went to work, took care of his kids."
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