BERRIEN COUNTY, MICH. — Police continue to investigate a double homicide and child abduction that happened in Berrien County; and at this point officers believe the same suspect is responsible for both.

Police received a 911 call around 9 p.m. Thursday night, Jan. 14, after someone found two bodies in a home in the 6400-block of M-63 in Coloma.

“A family member saw the window was open but the house was locked,” said 1st. Lt. Mike Dawson with Michigan State Police. “They thought that was strange and used a ladder to gain entry to the house and at that point, found the bodies inside.”

They then realized two kids were missing and authorities issued an Amber Alert early Friday morning, Jan. 15. That has since been cancelled because the kids were found safe, along with the suspect, their biological father, 24-year-old Alex Perez. The kids were identified in the Amber Alert as Nova Perez, 4, and Luna Perez, 3.

Alex Perez was located by a sheriff’s deputy in Clear Creek County, Colo., early Friday morning. Patrol Deputy Paul Osckel saw a suspicious car parked in a parking lot in Georgetown with its lights on and engine running; with an adult and two kids inside. When he radioed in, he was notified the plates and description matched that of the vehicle Perez was driving; and he was wanted for a kidnapping and double homicide. Authorities there say Perez was taken into custody after a brief struggle at the scene. Police in Michigan received the call Alex Perez was found around 3:30 a.m.

“We were very, very fortunate that it was just really good police work on a Clear Creek deputy,” said Detective Fabian Suarez with Michigan State Police. “He had not even received the Amber Alert yet, he was just doing his job as a patrolman and what happened is he probably, may have, saved the lives of two little girls for all we know.”

The vehicle Perez was located in is not his; it was registered to someone else inside the home where the two people were found dead.

Police have not identified the two victims at the home yet but it was a man and a woman, and the woman may be the mother of the children. One of them was found upstairs, the other downstairs. Investigators believe they were killed on Wednesday night.

So far, Perez hasn’t been very cooperative with police. He remains in custody.

Michigan State Police and the Berrien County Sheriff’s Department are handling the investigation; the Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Department in Colorado is assisting.

A lot of questions remain unanswered.

Source: WNDU