A DISTURBING twist has emerged after a mother and father were found buried in their backyard.

Arizona authorities have named a suspect in the case after discovering a “large amount of blood” appeared to have been cleaned up at the home when following up on a welfare check on August 4, police said.

Officials in Arizona uncovered the remains of two people in the backyard of a Litchfield Park home

After making the discovery, officials named the victims’ son Matthew Flores as a suspect

The Avondale Police Department was called to a home in Litchfield Park, a city west of Phoenix, for a welfare check after relatives said they could not reach the parents who lived there and their son.

Officials found that the house was empty, but then discovered “indications that foul play may have occurred.”

Department spokesperson Daniel Benavidez said “a large amount of blood” was found in addition to evidence indicating someone tried to clean it up.

Homicide detectives were then called to the home, and discovered clues that led them to the backyard.

Officials brought in a mini excavator, and on August 6, recovered the remains of two people buried in shallow graves.

Police named the victims’ son Matthew Flores, 27, as the prime suspect in the investigation.

“All I can say is that he fled the country,” Benavidez said, per Fox affiliate KSAZ.

Officials have not said what country they believe the son fled to.

The FBI and US Marshals Service have since joined the investigation efforts as an international manhunt unfolds.

Police could not confirm whether Flores has a criminal history or mental health history, or if he lived with his parents, saying only that he was expected to be at the home at the time the welfare check was conducted.

“At the family‘s request, we are not releasing the names of the husband and wife at this time,” officials said in a statement to KSAZ.

Neighbors who spoke with local outlets said the family always seemed pleasant, and two recalled hearing a disturbance near the home on the morning of August 4.

Local officials seen investigating the victims’ backyard

Avondale Police Department spokesperson Daniel Benavidez said officials believe Flores fled the country

“The dad there, we see him every once in a while, he’s very, very friendly but we don’t talk too much just whenever we see him, we say hello,” neighbor Alec Rogers told KSAZ.

“There was a little bit of yelling and I don’t know exactly who from,” Rogers said of what he heard on that morning.

A neighbor who spoke with AZFamily said she saw a car circling the neighborhood before she heard a disturbance.

She recalled hearing a person scream “please stop,” the day before, but didn’t think much of it at the time.

Police tape seen blocking of the garage of the home

Neighbors described the neighborhood as quiet

“I was on the other side of the sidewalk and I definitely heard it come from that direction. But I was like, ‘Okay, we live by a middle school, it might be nothing’, so I didn’t think more of it.”

“I was so confused and I’m honestly still so confused just seeing all this because our neighborhood is super quiet,” she said.

“I don’t even really see my neighbors for the most part. I don’t really see them come home. I don’t see them leave. It’s a super, super quiet neighborhood.

“So this is a shock to all of us. We’re all just trying to figure out what the heck is going on. And hopefully everything is good and I hope everyone’s OK.”

Police have not yet revealed how long the victims had been missing

Crime scene investigators seen responding to the Arizona home after relatives called for a welfare check

Officials have yet to say how long the family had been missing or how long the remains had been in the yard.

“What I can say is that the bodies are in a state of decomposition,” Benavidez told AZFamily.

One neighbor told KSAZ they were “pretty spooked” by investigators digging in the yard of a nearby home.

“I never thought anything like this would go on around here,” the neighbor said.

Officials have said this was an isolated incident and there is no threat to the public.

Anyone with information about where Flores might be has been asked to contact the Avondale Police Department at 623-333-7001.

The U.S. Sun has reached out to the Avondale Police Department for comment.

Source: https://www.the-sun.com/news/16825307/matthew-flores-arizona-parents-buried-backyard/