A three-year-old girl survived her father’s massacre by hiding under a blanket for three hours while he used two pistols to shoot dead her twin sister, mom and grandmother, it has been revealed.
Authorities found the bodies of Pablo Colon Jr, 35, and his three relatives on the top floor of their home in the gated Grand Palms Golf and Country Club community in Florida in August.
It was only after a second search of the home that SWAT teams found his second daughter downstairs, Adriana, underneath the kitchen table and covered by a blanket, where she had hidden while the horror unfolded, reports now confirm.
Pablo Colon’s cousin Dominique Pinzon, 27, told The Orlando Sentinel: ‘Who knows, maybe her love for hide-and-seek saved her life.’
Colon’s wife was identified as Sandra Colon, 36, and his mother-in-law was identified as Olga Alvarez, 61. The slain sister has not been named.
A motive for the murder-suicide is not yet known but calls to 911 reveal that Colon, who owned a local electrical service business, told his cousin: ‘I have to do it.’
Little Adriana survived her father’s massacre by hiding under a blanket for three hours while he used two pistols to shoot dead her twin sister, mom and grandmother, it has been revealed
Pablo Colon Jr, 35, killed his wife, mother-in-law and daughter before taking his own life
Colon’s wife was identified as Sandra Colon, 36, left, and his mother-in-law was identified as Olga Alvarez, 61, right. The slain sister has not been named. Pablo and Sandra, who met ten years ago, had married in in May, pictured, after welcoming the twins in 2015
Pembroke Pines Police Captain Adam Feiner said the family had rented the home for the past six months. Pablo and stay-at-home mom Sandra had met ten years ago, according to relatives and had moved there from Fort Lauderdale for more space.
They had married in May after welcoming the twins in 2015. Olga Alvarez had recently moved in.
The initial call to 911 on August 25 had come from Alvarez, who was screaming in Spanish.
She told operators in Spanish: ‘He’s going to kill her. Don’t, don’t. He killed her.’
Later she adds: ‘Come, come. He’s going to hurt me. Quick. Save the children. Please.’
Colon can then be heard swearing at his mother-in-law, who replies: ‘I didn’t know.’
He tells her: ‘Now you die, right?’
Police responding to the call arrived at the home at shortly after 8:30pm. There they received no answer before a call to 911 from another relative who told them: ‘He said he killed his wife and the two kids. And he said “I’m sorry, I have to do it. And I’ll see you in heaven”.’
Colon is said to have told the cousin he called that he had discovered Sandra had been having an affair.
It was only after a second search of the home that SWAT teams found his second daughter downstairs, Adriana, pictured, underneath the kitchen table and covered by a blanket
Adriana is now said to be with loved ones and in the process of being formally adopted
A picture of the couple’s twin daughters on their grandmother Olga Alvarez’s Facebook page
Authorities found the bodies of Colon Jr, 35, and his three relatives in the master bedroom of their home in the gated Grand Palms Golf and Country Club community in Florida in August
Pinzon said the family were not aware of any allegations of an affair until after the shootings. She added: ‘It was a couple who had their problems, but from an outside point of view, it seemed like they were working on it. We knew they loved each other, and they had a passionate love.’
For the next couple of hours law enforcement tried to contact Colon before a SWAT team went in.
They found one of the twins dead in her pajamas by the staircase. Colon, Olga and Sandra were all found shot dead in the master bedroom.
It was during a second check of the downstairs of the home they found the couple’s second little girl.
She is now said to be with loved ones and in the process of being formally adopted. A GoFundMe page is raising money for her care.
Of Colon, who was known as Junior and had no criminal history, Pinzon said: ‘He made you feel welcome. Which is the hardest thing to talk about.’
In August Police Captain Feiner told CBS4: ‘Our investigation concluded that Pablo Colon killed his wife, his mother-in-law and three-year-old daughter before taking his own life with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The surviving three-year-old daughter was taken to a hospital as a precaution.’
Neighbors said at the time of the killings they were stunned by the incident, describing their community as a ‘quiet one’.
One told CBS4: ‘I’ve never heard of anything like that here and I’ve been here for probably close to 15 years.’
Pembroke Pines police said the family had rented the home for the past six months
Neighbors said they were stunned by the incident, describing their community as a ‘quiet one’
The initial call to 911 came from Colon’s mother-in-law who was screaming in Spanish