Chula Vista, CA: Friends Mourn Family Killed in Townhome

The bodies of a woman and two children were found Wednesday inside a Chula Vista townhouse - victims in what police believe was a murder-suicide.

Officers discovered Mary Catherine Alvarez, 41 and her children Hamid, 11, and Angelica, 12, inside a townhome at 1746 Currant Way, in a complex located south of Olympic Parkway and east of State Route 125.

Chula Vista police suspect a man whose body was found below a Spring Valley bridge early Wednesday may have killed Alvarez, his girlfriend, and her two children before jumping to his death.

A CHP officer found the man's body in a ravine near state Route 125 northbound, just south of Route 54 at about 5:35 a.m.

An abandoned 2001 Hyundai Elantra was parked near the ravine, said Ken Jackman of the CHP.

Though the man carried no identification, police conducted a registration check of the car. They traced the vehicle's owner to a Chula Vista apartment complex, but found that the owner had moved.

After speaking with the manager of the building, officials attained the address of the owner, Mary Catherine Alvarez.

It was after performing a welfare check at Alvarez' home that officers discovered the family. Alvarez was lying in a pool of blood, Jackman said.

“It’s a sad day when children are involved,” Jackman said.

Officials obtained a search warrant Wednesday afternoon.

Friends said the man who committed suicide is Catherine Alvarez’s boyfriend. The couple had been together for about 5 years. He was not the father of the children.

Diane Vega, 12, in tears remembered Angelica, a cheerleader and 6th grader at Corky McMillian Elementary.

“We were best friends," she said. " We were best friends she was always there for me.”

“She is really nice. She is fun. She is really cool, unique.”

Their next door neighbor heard a strange noise Monday around 5 a.m.

“It woke me up because it was really loud it was like a really loud scream,” said Patricia Manjarrez.

The mother and kids had recently moved from another apartment. There, they lived with the Catherine Alvarez’s boyfriend.

Former neighbor Nidhi Embelkar said, “They look like a very happy could you know?”

Catherine Alvarez worked in the special education department at San Ysidro High School for the past five years.

School principal Hector Espinoza said, “Her passion was working with kids and it was noticeable in the classroom. Tragic its as simple as that it's a waste, such a tragic waste.”