Oregon family of six found slain

Officers found the bodies of six family members when they entered this house outside McMinnville, Oregon, Thursday night.

McMINNVILLE, Oregon (CNN) -- The Yamhill County Sheriff's Department Friday is investigating the deaths of six members of a family -- including four children ages 9 to 15 -- just outside the Oregon town of McMinnville, apparently the result of a murder-suicide.

A detective and a deputy discovered the bodies Thursday night when they were alerted by local residents that none of the family members had been seen recently. The officers saw what appeared to be a body inside the home, and found five more bodies when they entered the house.

The sheriff's office said that the evidence indicated that Robert Artie Bryant, 37, shot his wife and four children to death before turning the gun on himself.

The other victims have been identified as Janet Ellen Bryant, 37; Clayton Keith Bryant, 15; Ethan Lance Bryant, 12; Ashley Rose Bryant, 10 and Alyssa Megan Bryant, 9.

The officers were investigating an unrelated alarm in the neighborhood when residents told them the Bryant children had not attended school in two weeks.

The family moved into the McMinnville area, about 30 miles southwest of Portland, in the summer of 2001. Bryant was a self-employed landscaping contractor.