In the course of looking for two missing teenagers, investigators claim they have discovered seven dead on a farm in a tiny hamlet in rural Oklahoma.
Police stated that they believed Ivy Webster, 14, and Brittany Brewer, 16, who they were seeking, were among the fatalities.
Police also discovered the body of Jesse McFadden, a convicted criminal and registered sex offender who they said the girls were travelling with.
The reason for the death was not given by the police.
The two teenagers are the subject of an endangered missing person warning from the Oklahoma Highway Patrol as of Monday.
A local CBS news network stated that the girls had apparently spent the weekend with McFadden but had never made it back home.
Police were directed to Henryetta, a tiny hamlet of roughly 6,000 people, by a search warrant for McFadden's residence, where they found seven dead.
Sheriff Eddy Rice of Okmulgee County stated that he thinks Ivy and Brittany were discovered during the search but added that the state medical examiner would need to confirm the victims' identities.
By Monday afternoon, the missing person advisory had been withdrawn.
"We believe to have found everything that we were seeking this morning," Mr Rice said. "Our hearts go out to the families and friends, schoolmates and everyone else."
Regarding the incident or the cause of death, no additional information was provided.
Nathan Brewer, Brittany's father, expressed disbelief to the local media.
"I'm lost. I'm really lost. End of school's fixing to be here, she ain't gonna be there. I mean she's gone," he said. "I have five kids but she was like my sidekick."
"Brittany was an outgoing person. She was actually selected to be Miss Henryetta ... coming up in July for this Miss National Miss pageant in Tulsa. And now she ain't gonna make it because she's dead."
It's basically a parent's greatest fear, Mr Brewer told the gathering at a vigil on Monday night.
In a Facebook post, Henryetta Public Schools expressed its sorrow for the passing of some of its kids. It said that it will offer kids grief counselling and access to mental health specialists and postponed a kindergarten graduation scheduled on Monday.
"Our hearts are hurting" the post read. "Please continue to keep these families in your thoughts and prayers."