Police Say Bridge Jumper In Spring Valley Could Be Connected to Deaths In Chula Vista

UPDATE: 7:13 p.m. The man found dead after apparently jumping off a freeway overpass in Spring Valley Wednesday is believed to be connected to the deaths of a Chula Vista woman and her two children, whose bodies were discovered later that morning.  Their causes of death were not immediately clear, but the circumstances led detectives to "strong belief that this is a murder-suicide,'' Chula Vista Police Department spokesman Bernardo Gonzales told reporters.

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UPDATE - 3:15 p.m. At about 5:30 a.m., a California Highway Patrol officer noticed an abandoned Hyundai Elantra partially blocking a left-hand lane on an overpass section of state Route 125. He discovered the jumper's body in a ravine about 150 feet below the roadway, according to investigators.

The car was traced back to the owner at a Chula Vista apartment complex. There, officers learned the family in question had moved to a home on Currant Way in the Eastlake area of the South Bay city, said CHP public information officer Art Athans.

When authorities were let into that house by a property manager, they discovered the body of a young boy. The Chula Vista Police Department was notified, and additional searches of the home yielded the discovery of two other bodies: a young girl and a woman.

The San Diego Union-Tribune is reporting that police believe there is a link between the bridge jumper and the other bodies, and are investigating the case as a murder-suicide. They are unsure if the dead man is related to the woman and children, since there was no identification found on his body. The identities of the victims is not yet known, though the paper is reporting that the woman was a teacher at San Ysidro High School.

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A man is dead today after apparently jumping off of a highway bridge in Spring Valley.

The fatality occurred off northbound state Route 125, just south of state Route 54, according to the California Highway Patrol. It was reported just before 5:30 a.m.

The county coroner's office was en route to move the body. No other details were immediately released, and the jumper has yet to be identified.

Mount Helix Patch will update this story as more information becomes available.

City News Service contributed to this story.