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Springville • It's the same question every time police approach the relatives of the Springville family of five who died mysteriously at their own home over the weekend: What happened?
Springville police don't know the answer. They won't even know where to begin looking until a toxicology report comes back. That could take up to eight weeks, officials said Tuesday.
"It's a waiting game at this point," Lt. Dave Caron said. "These families live in my neighborhood. They're my neighbors. It's so difficult to go to them every time and have them say, 'Can you tell me what happened?' And know that we just can't."
As Caron addressed the media, family members stood behind him on the grass of the Springville Art Museum, holding hands and each other.
Delivering a statement through an appointed family spokesman, the relatives of Benjamin Strack, 37, and his wife Kristi, 36, said they're "seeking the healing that comes with understanding" what happened to their loved ones.
"[We]" hope the results of the ongoing investigation will be able to provide closure for all of us," family spokesman Bob McGee said. "That said, we understand those answers will take time, and that it is likely we will never know everything in perfect detail."
They thanked the police department for its diligent work, community members near and far for their outpouring of support. And they asked for help: The cost of five funerals will be monumental, McGee said. Those willing to help can donate through a Go Fund Me campaign or America First Credit Union.
"They all would have wanted us to carry on, to think of the wonderful moments we had with them, and to spend our lives being little bit kinder, holding our loved ones a little bit longer, and smiling a little bit wider each and every day," McGee said. "You never know when or if tragedy will strike and you will never regret holding your loved ones closer or being kinder to those around you."
A preliminary autopsy has ruled out a violent assault as the cause of death of the five Strack family members, including three children, who were all found dead inside the master bedroom of their Springville home on Saturday, officials have said.
Caron said in an interview after the press conference Tuesday that it was not immediately clear what happened to the victims.
"Just walking through [the house], there was nothing that jumped out at you as a possible cause that would make us say, 'Well, this must be what happened,' " Caron told reporters. "That's what makes this case really hard. It's really difficult because we don't have a specific answer."
The Stracks' lone surviving child and his grandmother happened upon the motionless bodies of the two parents and three of their children — Benson, 14, Emery, 12, and Zion, 11 — late Saturday.
Detectives have been in contact with the oldest son, who had left to go to work early that morning, and the grandmother, who went with him into the house after the boy grew suspicious of how quiet it was inside.
Caron said nothing has been "ruled out" of the investigation — "we're going to look at everything" — though there was no apparent sign of a struggle or breaking and entering.
A test of the air in the home by firefighters did not find any carbon monoxide, but investigators have not ruled that out as a possible cause of death.
The front door of the home of the home was open, and the back door slightly ajar, before firefighters arrived. Any gas that had been in the home could have dissipated before the test, Caron said.
Several animals were also found alive, though it was not immediately clear whether they had been inside the home the whole day. A full grown cat, a kitten and a ferret were recovered from the Strack home.
Among the items that still need to be vetted are the family's cell phones and some soda pop found near the five victims.
"I didn't get into law enforcement to not have answers," Caron said. "I got into law enforcement to find answers. But this is one of those cases where we just don't have any. I wish we did."
Funeral services will be held privately, but a public vigil will be held on Thursday at 6 p.m. in Provo's Pioneer Park at 500 West Center St.
Twitter: @Marissa_Jae