November 14, 2012
Police are investigating after a neighbor found a 29-year-old woman and her two young daughters dead inside their home near Miami.
Miami-Dade detective Roy Rutland told The Miami Herald the neighbor smelled an odor Tuesday and went inside the house to find its source. There, she found Gladys Machado in a closet. Machado's daughters, 4-year-old Daniela Patrino and 8-year-old Julia Padrino, were next to her.
Police say the woman's 6-year-old son was safe with his grandmother.
Friends and family members -- including the children's father -- gathered outside the home Tuesday as police continued their investigation. Neighbors told the newspaper that Machado lived with a boyfriend who had recently been released from jail.
Police have not released the manner of death. No further details were immediately available.
