Fuller family deaths: Knife found at murder scene

Sam and Charlotte Fuller were found dead along with their sister Rebecca and father Ceri

A knife has been found where a father and his three children were discovered dead, police have revealed.

The bodies of Ceri Fuller, 35, his son, Sam, 12, and daughters, Rebecca, eight, and Charlotte, seven, were found in a disused quarry in Shropshire on Monday.

Police said they were investigating whether Mr Fuller had killed his children before taking his own life.

The children's mother, Ruth Fuller, said: "I don't have the words to describe how I feel at the moment."

Mrs Fuller added: "All I would ask is that I be left alone to grieve with my family."

Officers have said they are not looking for anyone else in connection with the murder inquiry.

'Anxious'

Det Ch Insp Neil Jamieson, of West Mercia Police, said the old quarry at Pontesbury Hill and the surrounding woodland at Poles Coppice would remain cordoned off while officers continued a detailed search of the area.

Ceri Fuller's wife, Ruth, is being comforted by family

Mr Jamieson said: "Officers involved in the search found a knife in the vicinity of where the bodies were found. It will now be forensically examined."

A missing persons inquiry was launched by Gloucestershire Police on Thursday after Mr Fuller and his children went missing from their home in the Forest of Dean.

The Land Rover Freelander they had been travelling in was spotted by a member of the public on Pontesbury Hill on Monday morning.

The four bodies were found "within a 30 or 40-yard area" inside the disused quarry by a police officer, the West Mercia force said.

Detectives have appealed for information about possible sightings of the vehicle and its four occupants.

Mr Jamieson said: "We believe this vehicle left Gloucestershire at some point last Wednesday evening or early Thursday morning and we are anxious to establish its movements since then, especially in the Pontesbury area.

"We believe it was in the Leominster area at around midday on Thursday before making its way up towards Welshpool later that day."

He said several people had already come forward with "helpful information" that would help police track the vehicle's movements.

He added: "We are working very closely with our colleagues in Gloucestershire to try to establish the full circumstances leading up to this tragedy."

A candle-lit vigil organised by parents at St John's C of E primary school in Coleford, where the two girls were pupils, was held on Monday evening.

Three books of condolence made by children at the school have been opened at St John's church in the town.

Post-mortem examinations were due to be carried out on Tuesday.