Five-year-old found in street leads police to dead mum

A five-year-old girl who was found wandering down the street in her pyjamas has led police to the house where her mother lay dead on the bedroom floor.

According to official reports the girl was spotted by officers in Worcester, Massachusetts, who made the gruesome discovery after trying to return the youngster home.

On entering the house police found the girl's 36-year-old mother dead in her bedroom and the girl's 42-year-old father in the kitchen bleeding from a neck wound and with a knife protruding from his neck.

Worcester County District Attorney Joseph D. Early said the man had been taken to hospital for treatment and the girl had been examined by doctors before being released to the Department of Children and Families.

Early said: "Keeping in mind we are early in the investigation, the appropriate charges will be forthcoming.

"The medical examiner has accepted the case and an autopsy will determine the cause and manner of the woman's death.”