The Sonoma County Sheriff's Office has identified Alvaro Botelho Da Camara, 40, as the father suspected of killing his two children before hanging himself in his Santa Rosa apartment over the weekend.
The sheriff's office identified the children as Juliana Camara, 6, and her 19-month-old brother Julian Camara. Autopsies are scheduled for Wednesday, Sgt. Spencer Crum said.
Da Camara was in a custody dispute with his wife, who lives in an unincorporated area of Sonoma County, and was with his children on Father's Day Sunday, Santa Rosa police Lt. John Cregan said.
The children's mother went to pick up the children at Da Camara's apartment in the 700 block of Slater Street on Sunday evening, but it appeared he was not home, Crum said.
She called the sheriff's office, and deputies looked in windows, knocked on doors and left a business card at the door, Crum said.
Deputies and the children's mother were in phone contact overnight, and deputies returned to Da Camara's apartment around 9 a.m. Monday. The children's mother and two of her brothers also went to the apartment Monday morning, according to Crum.
A deputy climbed a ladder to enter the apartment by removing a screen on an open bathroom window. The bodies were found in a bedroom, and deputies called Santa Rosa police around 9:50 a.m., Crum said.
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Da Camara's sister, Jessica Espada, told NBC Bay Area she wished her brother would have reached out for help.
"Talk to somebody. That's the thought that's been in my mind," Espada said. "We were here for you, we wanted to help you any way we could. But it was just too late. With everything that came down, custody, divorce and just him finding out things that didn't help out just all bottled up inside, and he snapped."
Da Camara and his wife were in Sonoma County Superior Court on Friday regarding a custody issue, but they came to an agreement, Santa Rosa police Lt. Mike Lazzarini said.
On Friday night, the couple argued over the phone. Juliana was with her father, and Julian was with his mother at the time, Lazzarini said.
Prior to the tragic discovery Monday, investigators didn't "have any information he was a danger to himself or the children," Lazzarini said. "There was no domestic violence."
