BEXAR COUNTY, Texas – A mother and her two young children were found fatally shot at their home in the Anaqua Springs neighborhood in Northwest Bexar County on Jan. 10.
Days after their deaths, Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar announced his office would keep the investigation open as he and his team of investigators are not ready to say that 37-year-old Nichol Olsen fatally shot her two children, Alexa Montez, 16, and London Bribiescas, 10, before turning the gun on herself.
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The Bexar County Medical Examiner's office has ruled Olsen's death a suicide and the two young girls' deaths homicides.
"The fact that Nichol Olsen's death, right now, has been ruled a suicide, we can't just say that, 'Oh, well then she must've been the one who did this to these two little girls,'" Salazar said. "We still have to go out and find out who it was that killed these two young ladies."
On Jan. 22, Salazar announced the FBI would join in the investigation into the deaths.
Here's everything we know about the case so far...
Who discovered their bodies?
Salazar said the trio was discovered by Olsen's boyfriend that morning. According to the sheriff, the boyfriend had stayed somewhere else the night before. Authorities said that the boyfriend was cooperating with authorities and that he was "understandably upset" about their deaths.
On Jan. 14, Salazar said investigators would use an assortment of technologies to confirm the boyfriend's story.
"We talked about cellphone tower technology -- that's going to go a long way in showing, at least, where his cellphone and then GPS on his vehicle -- it'll tell us where those two items were, and then we'll have to continue investigating to see if he was in possession of those two items."
Salazar said that while Olsen's boyfriend and others are "people of interest" in the case, authorities have not named any suspects. He elaborated that the "person of interest" designation indicates that the individuals have information that could prove helpful to the investigation.
Why isn't KSAT naming the boyfriend?
Authorities said he is not a suspect in the case and that while he is a person of interest, there are multiple persons of interest. Additionally, he is not charged with any crime.
What do we know about Nichol Olsen and her 2 daughters?
Friends tell KSAT that Olsen was a hairdresser who loved her children. Many are skeptical that their friend would kill her two children, let alone herself.
"I would say that she would have had to have been killed," said Olsen's friend, Rick Wright. "There's no way that she would have taken her life, or taken anybody else's life like that. That's just not how she was. That wasn't her -- how she thinks. She loved life too much."
Montez's father, Carlos Montez, said his daughter had turned 16 in October and that he planned on buying his daughter her dream car: a Jeep Wrangler. Alexa Montez was a sophomore at Clark High School and was a cheerleader. He, too, believes that the trio was the victim of a crime.
Bribiescas was the last to be identified by the medical examiner's office as they were awaiting a confirmation of identity through dental records.
Bribiescas' friends and family said she loved the color purple, monkeys and singing.
"I thought she sang like an angel," one girl said at a balloon release honoring Bribiescas. "In fact, she was going to sign up for 'America's Got Talent.'"
Manner of death
According to the Bexar County Medical Examiner, both Olsen and Montez died from a single gunshot wound to the head. Bribiescas died from a gunshot wound to the neck and head, the medical examiner said.
The sheriff said investigators are working to determine who killed the two children.
"We owe it to the public and to the victims in the case, and their families, of course, to continue this investigation," Salazar said during a Jan. 14 news conference. "We can't just say, 'Well, this is what the medical examiner says, case closed.' We've still got two murder investigations, at least at this point, on these two young ladies. We have to find out who it is."
The investigation is ongoing and the FBI is involved
The Sheriff's Office announced during the Jan. 14 news conference it would keep the investigation into the triple-shooting open and called on the public to submit any information about the case to investigators by phone call or email.
Homicide office: 210-335-6070 | Email: BCSOtips@bexar.org
On Jan. 22, the Sheriff's Office announced the FBI would be assisting in their investigation into the girls' deaths.
"We are proud of the exceptional investigative work done by the BCSO Criminal Investigations Division to now and we are excited to count on the FBI’s expertise and resources moving forward," Salazar said. "We owe it to Nichol, Alexa, London and their families to find the truth through meticulous investigation. It’s always better to have more tools at our disposal and more eyes on any case.”
BCSO investigators met with FBI officials on Friday and shared their investigative materials with the agency, the sheriff said Monday. Additionally, the sheriff said the FBI is an equal partner in the investigation.
"My understanding is they're combing through that evidence and getting it to whatever experts they deem are the right experts to look at it, and then they're going to get back with us at a certain point and we'll proceed together," Salazar said.
What are investigators looking for?
Salazar said investigators are reviewing neighbors' surveillance video, gunshot residue evidence, social media accounts for all involved, cellphone records, text messages and more.
Salazar told KTSA that investigators are also looking into technology in the home, including voice-activated home assistant devices.
On Monday, the sheriff said there was no new information to share about the triple shooting, or what investigators have learned so far.
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