Stafford - Three young children killed by their father at a remote beauty spot died of smoke inhalation and carbon monoxide poisoning, police said yesterday.
Staffordshire Police said Lucy Carter (7), her sister Hollie (3), and brother Thomas (4), were found in a car near the Alton Towers theme park on August 2nd.
Their father Steven (36), who lived with children in the hamlet of The Blythe, near Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, was found hanging from a tree 200 yards away from the vehicle.
A Staffordshire Police spokesman said yesterday they "can confirm that, following forensic tests, the Home Office pathologist Dr Kenneth Scott gives the cause of death for all three children as `inhalation of smoke fumes and carbon monoxide poisoning'." He added that the children's mother Teresa (32) and her family had been informed of the findings.