Harris County investigators have few leads involving a gruesome quadruple murder that has shaken a quiet Cypress neighborhood to its core.
A couple and their two young sons were found gunned to death in their family home on Thursday around 7:30 p.m. Deputies at the scene — responding to a welfare check after the father hadn't been to work in several days — discovered the bodies in separate rooms of the house.
While initially cast by some as a potential a murder-suicide, the case since has been ruled a homicide with the parents and two kids all shot execution style. All four family members were shot at least one time in the head, and sources close to the investigation have noted that several windows of the home were shattered.
Harris county investigators say they have few leads and request the public's help.
During a Tuesday press conference Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia admitted investigators have little information on the case and he requested the public's help. The mother and father, both of whom were naturalized Chinese immigrants, were last seen on Jan. 24. No apparent motive has been identified.
KHOU Ch. 11 reports that law enforcement previously had been called to the house for possible domestic violence incidents. Neighbors say the family was very involved in the community, but also recall hearing arguments and note that cars were spotted coming and going at odd hours.
Though county officials have yet to release the names of the victims, the Chronicle has identified the children as fourth-grader Timothy Xie Sun and second-grader Titus Xiao Sun, both students at Sampson Elementary School. The two boys were last seen at school on Jan. 23, although inclement weather closed the district on Jan. 24 and 28.
A candlelight vigil was held in honor of the boys on Friday.
Public records show the home at 14015 Fosters Creek belonged to 49-year-old Mei Xie and her husband Maoye Sun, 50. The couple was married in Harris County in November 2000.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Maoye Sun held an engineering PhD from the University of Texas at Austin and worked as an oil equipment analyst for Cameron — the Houston company known for manufacturing the failed blowout preventer involved in BP's 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS (8477) or submit a tip the iWatchHarrisCounty website or app.
Watch KHOU Ch. 11's report:
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Photo by Leonid Furmansky