A Florida mother discovered her two young children and their father fatally shot when she arrived for a scheduled custody handover, police said.
Olivia Piccolo, 29, called 911 at about 12:40 p.m. Wednesday after making the grim discovery at Joseph Dingwall’s home in Cocoa, roughly 46 miles from Orlando, Cocoa Police Department Chief Evander Collier IV said.
Dingwall, the children’s father, was also found dead inside the home he owned, Fox 35 reported. Police believe he killed the children before taking his own life.
The victims were identified as the couple’s seven-year-old son, Remy, and five-year-old daughter, Aria. Authorities are investigating the deaths as an apparent murder-suicide.
Remy was preparing to celebrate his eighth birthday, according to a GiveSendGo fundraiser.
The fundraiser described Remy and his younger sister as “two very precious and deeply loved children.”
Officials said Piccolo entered the residence through a front door that had been left ajar and found all three victims inside.
Piccolo told investigators she had tried to contact Dingwall because it was her scheduled day to have the children, but he did not respond.
Olivia Piccolo (middle), 29, found her two children, seven-year-old son Remy (left) and five-year-old daughter Aria (right), dead inside their father’s home in Cocoa, Florida, on Wednesday afternoon
She told police she had tried to contact Dingwall because it was her day to have the children, but he did not respond. Piccolo then went to his home (pictured)
The events leading up to the deaths remain unclear, and the investigation is continuing.
A neighbor told WESH 2 that he heard what sounded like gunshots at about 12:20 a.m. Wednesday.
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“Two gunshots. Two clear gunshots, and it was 12:20 a.m., midnight,” Marcos Garcia said, explaining that the sounds came from across the street.
It has not been confirmed whether the sounds came from Dingwall’s home. Chief Collier said police received no 911 calls around that time.
Police had responded to the residence 11 times since 2021 for “a variety of calls,” including reports involving medical concerns and suspicious activity, the chief said.
When asked for more details about those calls, Collier said he did not have that information available.
According to police, footage from a neighbor’s security camera appeared to show Dingwall outside the home around the time the gunshots were reportedly heard.
A GoFundMe page has been created to help Piccolo cover funeral expenses and lay her children to rest.
“Anyone who knew Olivia, even for a short amount of time, knew about her children. You couldn’t know Olivia without knowing how much Remy and Aria meant to her.
“They were her entire world. Her life revolved around them, and every part of her heart belonged to being their mother,” the fundraiser said.
Remy was just about to ring in his eighth birthday, according to a GiveSendGo fundraiser. He and his little sister have been remembered as ‘two very precious and deeply loved children’
Footage captured from a neighbor’s security camera appeared to capture Dingwall outside the home around the time shots rang out, according to police
The Daily Mail contacted the Cocoa Police Department for comment.
This is breaking news… updates to follow.