Taninges ski deaths: Dad finds his three kids stabbed to death as mum 'flees into mountains'

A dad made the unimaginable discovery after his three children were knifed to death at their home in France.

The child victims, a 13-year-old girl and her two brothers, aged 11 and two, were discovered at around 1pm on Tuesday afternoon. Their 45-year-old mother - who reportedly suffered from mental health issues - is considered a key suspect and is currently at large as she fled into the surrounding area after the killings.

The children were part of a blended family, with the mother being the blood relative of the girl and the 11-year-old boy. The father was related to the youngest child. The maternal suspect is said to have scribbled a letter and left it at the bloody scene before making her escape into the mountains that surround the quaint town of Taninges in the French Alps near France's border with Switzerland.

Police are yet to reveal details of what the letter said or who it was addressed to. A huge manhunt is underway, with 60 officers combing the countryside for any trace of the mother. Helicopters and diving squads are said to be supporting the foot search which is being carried out by soldiers from the Bonneville company, the Chambéry Research Section, the Departmental Road Safety Squadron (EDSR) and the High Mountain Gendarmerie Platoon (PGHM) along with technicians from the Haute-Savoie Criminal Identification Unit (CIC), according to .

Relatives of the family have been pulled in for questioning as cops try to piece together the circumstances surrounding the heinous crimes. The children's deaths are being treated as an "intentional homicide" by police with the investigation handed over to the Bonneville public prosecutor's office.

Boris Duffau, Bennoville's district attorney, said initial findings indicated children had suffered "stab wounds". He said: "Autopsies and additional expert assessments will be carried out quickly by the Grenoble Institute of Forensic Medicine (IML), but initial findings have shown that the victims have stab wounds."

It comes after two young children, aged four and 13 months old, were found decapitated in a bathtub in Guadeloupe, a French territory. Echoing the shocking Alps discovery, the father was the one to find their corpses and the prime suspect was the mother.