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Caldwell, Idaho • Investigators are trying to determine what killed three people whose bodies were found hidden outside a southwestern Idaho home.

A law enforcement officer found the bodies about 11 a.m. Monday after responding to a welfare check at the small farmhouse on the outskirts of Caldwell, Canyon County Chief Deputy Marv Dashiell said.

A family member asked for the welfare check because the occupants of the home had not been seen for some time. The deputy who responded noticed some things that didn't look quite right, Dashiell said, and found the bodies after he started looking more closely around the property.

The bodies were found outside, partially covered as if someone had tried to hide them, Canyon County sheriff's spokesman Joe Decker said.

The three had likely been dead at least three days based on the advanced state of decomposition, Dashiell said. Their genders and ages were not yet known, and investigators had not yet determined if the bodies belonged to the people who were living at the home.

A coroner was at the scene Monday afternoon to help investigators.

Because they didn't yet know who died, the investigators don't yet have any suspects in the case, Dashiell said.

It could take a few days for the coroner's office to determine the cause of death, he said.

"We haven't been able to see any overt trauma," Dashiell said. "But that doesn't mean it isn't present."