Amy and Lance Buckley  with their two young daughters Claire and Abigail, on Thursday in a suspected murder suicide. 

Authorities in Virginia believe a Stafford County man killed his wife and two young daughters before committing suicide inside their Windsor Forest home.
Police responded to the home in the northwestern end of the county on Thursday and the four victims were  identified.
30-year-old Amy Buckley was found dead beside husband Lance, 35. Their two young daughters, Claire, five, and Abigail, 18 months were also lying dead alongside at their family home in Stafford, Virginia, on Thursday. Stafford County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the tragedy was being treated as a murder suicide.
The couple’s next of kin have been informed of their deaths on Thursday evening.
Stafford County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the tragedy was being treated as a murder suicide.

Loving parents Amy Buckley with her daughters Abigail, 18 months, and 5-year-old Claire

Lance and Amy Buckley welcomed baby daughter Abigail in April last year, eleven days before Mr Buckley vanished from home.  He became the subject of a missing person’s appeal, vanishing on May 5, 2015, after catching a ride to Howard University, where he was studying for a PhD in microbiology. His family thought he was graduating a few days later, but he did not.
At the time his wife pleaded for his return, describing him as the ‘love of her life’,saying it was “totally out of character” for him to not contact his family. He was missing for almost a fortnight before he was found safe, in Maryland.

Last year, Lance Buckley went missing for days, the week his family thought he was graduating with a PhD in Microbiology from Howard University, sparking a frenzied missing person’s hunt. It turned out he was not going to graduate.

Lance and Amy Buckley with daughters Claire  and Abigail, seen above on Halloween. Tragically the entire family was died in the murder suicide. 

The sheriff’s office confirmed they were treating it as a ‘domestic murder suicide’ in a statement.
‘The Stafford County Sheriff’s Office is conducting an investigation into the deaths of four individuals in the Windsor Forest Subdivision in the northwestern portion of the county.
‘The preliminary investigation has determined the incident was a domestic related murder-suicide.
‘The ages of the deceased are a 35-year-old male, a 30-year-old-female, a five-year-old female and an 18-month-old-female,’ the sheriff’s office said in a statement.

The couple was found dead with their children at Mr Buckley’s family home (picture) on Thursday. Deputies went to the home Thursday morning after receiving a call and spent the rest of the day there.