Police on Saturday were investigating the slayings of two children whose bodies were found inside a Southern California hotel room Saturday morning, authorities said.
The children were discovered when their mother told officials to check a nearby hotel after she crashed her car in an apparent suicide attempt in Costa Mesa, police said.
The woman's name was not immediately released. She is 42 years old and her last known address was in San Jose, Santa Ana Police Cpl Anthony Bertagna told the Associated Press.
The woman also had a connection to Scottsdale, Ariz.and her car had a Georgia license plate, according to police. It was not clear why she was in Orange County.
Late Saturday police told AP that she was the children's mother.
She was released to police custody from a Newport Beach hospital Saturday night and was booked for investigation of two counts of murder, according to investigators.
Police in Costa Mesa responded to an Albertsons market parking lot after 8 a.m., where a woman had apparently tried to kill herself in a crash, said Costa Mesa police Sgt. Tim Starn.
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When officers arrived, she refused to come out of the car and attempted to strangle herself with an electrical cord, police told the NBC affiliate in Los Angeles.
She intentionally crashed into an electrical box with propane tanks in her front seat, but the propane did not ignite, according to Costa Mesa police. Officers ultimately had to smash out one of the side windows to remove her from the car.
"As she was getting processed to the hospital, she made some statements that indicated a crime might have occurred (in Santa Ana)," Starn said told City News Service.
Costa Mesa police notified Santa Ana officers about 8:20 a.m to check on the welfare of two children at the hotel, Santa Ana Police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna said.
Officers found the bodies in the bath tub of a third-floor room after 9 a.m. at the Hampton Inn & Suites in Santa Ana and opened a homicide investigation into the case, officials said.
Police wouldn't disclose how the children died until a coroner's investigation is complete.
"I'm on the fourth floor along with my fiance and didn't hear a thing--nothing," hotel guest Mike Rainey said.
Officials would not disclose the gender or age of the children, but sources close to the investigation said a 7-year-old girl and 12-year-old boy were killed.
City News Service, Associated Press, and NBC Bay Area contributed to this report.
