Adults, children found dead in gruesome highway shootings

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PORT ST. LUCIE, Florida (CNN) -- A man, a woman, and two children clasped in her arms were found shot to death Friday on the shoulder of Florida's Turnpike, police said.

No vehicle was seen near the bodies when a passing motorist found them lying on the ground near one of the state's busiest interchanges.

"This is definitely not a murder-suicide," said St. Lucie County Sheriff Ken J. Mascara. "This is a murder that we're pulling out all stops to find out who committed this crime."

Mascara said the four victims were shot multiple times while kneeling or lying on the ground. (Watch sheriff reveal what evidence has been found -- 1:57)

"The woman in a defensive posture, had both of the children surrounded, underneath her arms, in an effort that we can assume was to protect them from the gunfire," Mascara said.

Authorities wrapped the bodies in white cloth under a blue tent erected near the spot where the four were found. Investigators marked off a crime-scene grid and used soil-sifting equipment to search for ballistic evidence in the intense Florida heat. (Gallery)

The woman, 25, was carrying a Florida ID and the children are believed to be between 4 and 6 years old, he said. The man, 29, was found lying near the other victims. (Watch sheriff provide details about how the bodies were found -- 2:43)

The sheriff described the victims as a "family," but said he could not confirm their relationship because the man and woman had different last names.

They were Hispanic with roots in the southern United States, he said. Efforts to reach their relatives had been unsuccessful as of Friday night, he said, and so authorities were withholding their names.

The four were believed to be in a dark-colored or black Jeep, Mascara said Friday night. The Jeep -- with a paper temporary tag in the back window -- now is considered to be a suspect vehicle, as it was not at the victims' home. The victims' neighbors told police that was the vehicle they drove, he said.

Mascara said there were no tire tracks found at the crime scene that investigators could cast for impressions; however, "this morning at 8 o'clock there was a dew and you could see plainly that there was a car that drove up to that scene and left."

Investigators working the case were emotionally affected by the slayings, he said.

"Everybody that went and viewed the bodies described it as one of the most gruesome scenes that they had been to," the sheriff said.

Police excavated soil at the crime scene for hours and found both bullets and bullet fragments, Mascara said. He said the evidence could help investigators determine whether more than one gun was used.

In addition, he said, authorities had collected garbage cans along the Turnpike, including those at exits and rest areas, for technicians to sift through, and 55 surveillance tapes from toll plazas were being reviewed.

Residents awoke to loud pops

Residents living at a golf club near the scene of the shooting reported hearing gunshots between 1 a.m. and 3:30 a.m., Mascara said.

A woman who lives across the Turnpike from the crime scene told CNN she heard a series of six loud pops and looked at her bedroom clock, which showed the time as 2:24 a.m.

The woman and her husband looked outside, but could not see anything in the dark, she said.

A passing motorist saw the bodies about 7:30 a.m. and alerted Florida Highway Patrol, Mascara said.

Police asked that anyone with information that might be connected to the slayings call the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office at 772-462-3230.

The bodies were found near the Florida Turnpike's Fort Pierce exit, around mile marker 149, and near its intersection with I-95, a very busy thoroughfare, he said.

Florida's Turnpike is the main toll road connecting the Miami area with cities along the Atlantic Coast to Fort Pierce and then inland to Orlando and Interstate 75.

Autopsies on the four will be conducted Monday, said Merv Waldren, spokesman for the St. Lucie County Medical Examiner.

CNN's Fredricka Whitfield and Susan Candiotti contributed to this report.

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