Two children missing from Arizona home

updated 8:46 p.m. ET July 11, 2005

QUEEN CREEK, Ariz. - Arizona authorities were searching for two young children Monday missing from a home where their grandparents and an uncle were found slain the night before.

Eighteen-month-old Bryan Cervantes and his 3-year-old sister, Jennifer, were believed to be with their father, Rodrigo Cervantes Zavala, who may have been headed for Mexico, officials with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office said.

Authorities described Cervantes Zavala, 34, as an “investigative lead” rather than a suspect. The children’s mother told investigators that he had threatened the family several months ago.

Investigators went to the children’s home late Sunday after two hang-up 911 calls were recorded, said sheriff’s spokeswoman Kit Rustenburg.

The bodies of Saul Lopez Acosta, 63, and Trinidad Castro Acosta, 51, were found in the living room. Jesus Manuel Acosta, the children’s 17-year-old uncle, was also dead.

The victims were all relatives of the children’s mother, who was not at home at the time of the slayings, investigators said. Authorities did not immediately say how the three were killed or give other details.

Investigators waited several hours before issuing an Amber Alert because they didn’t know the children were missing until their mother, Oneida Acosta, returned home with her boyfriend, Rustenburg said.

Customs officials got word of the Amber Alert around 4:30 a.m., nearly six hours after the 911 hang-up calls were reported.

Queen Creek, southeast of Phoenix, is about 170 miles from the Nogales, Ariz., border port.

MORE FROM CRIME & COURTS

Crime & courts Section Front

Showdown over packing heat in national parks Killings turn focus on San Francisco sanctuary law Wiretap reports emerge in Peterson case   Four ex-Spitzer aides charged 5 dead spouses: Police were warned Infant cut from womb leaves hospital 5 FLDS men sought in sex-abuse case Crime & courts Section Front   Add Crime & courts headlines to your news reader: