Six dead in suspected murder-suicides in Bulgarian mountains, officials say

Bulgarian law enforcement authorities discovered the bodies of six family members on Tuesday in the mountain resort town of Novi Iskar, located near the capital of Sofia, following what officials have classified as a suspected murder-suicide of unprecedented brutality. The grim discovery was made after police were alerted by a relative who had been unable to contact the family following New Year's Eve celebrations. National Police Chief Hristo Terziyski described the scene as a unique and shocking criminal act, marking one of the most violent domestic incidents in the country’s modern history. Investigators at the scene found five victims—a man, two women, a teenage boy, and a young girl—inside a single residence, all of whom had been fatally shot. A sixth victim, a woman believed to be the mother of one of the children, was discovered later in a nearby forested area alongside a vehicle. Preliminary forensic reports suggest that the victims were killed several days before their bodies were found, likely during or shortly after the New Year holiday period. The sophistication and clinical nature of the crime have led authorities to treat the investigation with extreme gravity. While the motive remains under investigation, Bulgarian officials are exploring several leads, including personal disputes or potential financial troubles within the family. Genetic testing and ballistic analysis are currently underway to determine if the perpetrator was among the deceased or if an outside party was involved. The Ministry of Interior has deployed specialized forensic teams to the Balkan mountain region to gather evidence, as the national police chief continues to emphasize that the scale and method of the killings are unlike any previously recorded in Bulgaria.