Published Wednesday, February 03, 2010 8:44 AM
Updated Wednesday, February 03, 2010 9:32 AM
The bodies of 51-year-old Phyllis Oser and her two grandchildren, 5-year-old Kylie Lavelle and 5-month-old Landon Lavelle were found a little after 11 a.m. Sunday by the children’s grandfather after he returned to the home at 14 Otranto Club Circle in Hanahan.
According to the incident report, all three victims were found in a bed in an upstairs bedroom.
Investigators believe the grandmother, Phyllis Oser, shot and killed the children with a 9-millimeter handgun before turning the gun on herself.
“This is a terrible tragedy,” Berkeley County Deputy Chief Coroner Bill Salisbury said. “It’s one of the worst I’ve ever worked.”
Salisbury identified the victims Sunday and said the causes of the deaths were gunshot wounds.
Hanahan Police Department officials said the children were staying at the Oser’s home in the Otranto subdivision of Hanahan and that the children’s parents, who are not married, have been involved in recent custody disputes.
The grandparents did not have official custody of the children, but the 5-year-old had been living with them almost since she was born, officials said.
Oser left at least two notes, one in a package she left at a different location for one of her daughters – not the mother of the children -- and another in a notebook found in the house.
The notes apparently reflected Oser’s distress over financial matters and family problems, according to police officials.