DA's investigator, family found slain inside California home

GARNER VALLEY, Calif. -- The 911 dispatcher heard only the thud of a telephone hitting the wall and the sound of a gunshot -- and when police arrived at the sprawling ranch home, they discovered six bodies.\nDavid McGowan, an investigator for the district attorney's office, was found dead Tuesday along with five other people, including his three children, who were all shot to death in their beds in the middle of the night, authorities said.\nA handgun was found near McGowan's body and two more in the kitchen. Detectives had not determined a motive, but they were not ruling out a murder-suicide.\nMcGowan, who turned 44 last week, was found with a gunshot wound to the head near the home's entrance, officials said. A phone, which may have been used to call 911, was also found near his body.\n"The beds were undisturbed. The house itself was undisturbed. It did not appear that the house had been ransacked," Sheriff Bob Doyle said. "We are not at this time looking for a suspect."\nMcGowan's 14-year-old son, Chase, and daughters Paige, 10, and Rayne, 8, were found in bed, all shot in the head. Also killed were his 42-year-old wife, Karen, and her mother, authorities said.\nThe sheriff said someone called 911 from the house at 4:33 a.m. A dispatcher did not hear any voices on the line, but identified the sounds of the phone hitting the wall and a gunshot.\nMcGowan was a five-year veteran of the Riverside County district attorney's office and previously worked as a detective with the Cathedral City Police Department.\nPat Whittle, an accounts manager for the Garner Valley Homeowner's Association who has known McGowan for 10 years, said she was shocked to hear the news.\n"He was wonderful," she said of McGowan. "It's hard to believe that things like this happen to people you know."\nThe remote, mountainous area about 100 miles southeast of Los Angeles is well-known for its horse ranches, nestled among rolling meadows and tall pines.\nPublic records show McGowan and his wife bought the 4 1/2-acre property and 3,331-square-foot ranch house for $425,000 in 2000.\nNeighbors said they were shocked.\n"It's just really quiet here," said David Merriman, whose parents live about a mile from the McGowans. "A lot could happen right next door and you wouldn't even know it"