Sheriff says signs of foul play in deaths of 2 found in Castro Valley home

CASTRO VALLEY, Calif. (KTVU) - There were obvious signs of foul play in the deaths of a man and a woman who were found slain from suspected gunshot wounds in a home in Castro Valley on Wednesday morning, an Alameda County sheriff's spokesman said.

Detectives are trying to determine if the case is a double murder or a murder-suicide but out of an abundance of caution they're treating it as a double murder for now, sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Ray Kelly said.

It appears that the victims have been dead for at least several days, Kelly said.

Deputies responded to the 20500 block of Forest Avenue in Castro Valley after a relative called the sheriff's office at 10:15 a.m. on Wednesday and said they had not heard from their family member for several days, according to Kelly.

The deputies received no response when they arrived at the house so they walked down the driveway to the rear of the property, where they noticed a detached guest house, Kelly said.

The deputies then went inside and discovered the deceased male and female, according to Kelly.

The crime scene and condition of the victims have made it difficult to determine the circumstances of their deaths but detectives hope that an autopsy and further crime scene analysis will shed more light on what happened, Kelly said.

The sheriff's office isn't releasing the names of the man and woman at this time pending proper identification and notification of next of kin by the coroner's bureau, Kelly said.

Anyone with information about the deaths is asked to call investigators at (510) 667-3636 and callers can remain anonymous, according to Kelly.