The bodies of Shannan Watts and her daughters Celeste, 3, and Bella, 4, were found tucked away in a couple of full oil tanks, which helped to conceal the odors, reports contend. The Colorado woman’s husband was arrested early this week in connection with their disappearances.
Chris Watts, 33, was booked on three counts of first-degree murder and tampering with physical evidence in the case after he allegedly confessed to the killings, according to a previous Inquisitr report. The bodies were found inside nearly full oil and gas tanks located on the property of an oil company where Watts worked, according to BBC N ews .
Police suspect all three were killed in their home and later transported to Anadarko Petroleum’s premises, though they have not yet released a cause of death.
Chris and Shannan Watts, who was 15 weeks pregnant, had reportedly been having financial troubles, BBC News reported. Shannan also suspected that her husband had been having an affair.
Chris Watts was fired from Anadarko Petroleum on Wednesday after he was arrested, the report says. The man confessed to the killings after the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and the FBI joined the local police investigation into their disappearance earlier in the week, Fox News reported.
Watts initially played the victim, claiming his wife and children had disappeared without a trace, leaving her purse and keys at home in Frederick, located about 30 miles north of Denver. A friend of Shannan’s called the police to report her missing on Monday after the woman failed to pick up her calls, even though the two had made plans together.
Less than 24 hours before his confession, Watts had talked to local news media pleading for his family to return home. During his confession, Watts told police he and his wife had an “emotional conversation” the night before she and the girls disappeared, but declined to elaborate further when pressed on whether the two had an argument, according to previous Inquisitr reports.
Shannan’s social media accounts didn’t give the impression she and her husband were having marital issue. In fact, it was the other way around. Shannan often took to Instagram and Facebook to declare her appreciation for her husband, calling him the best thing that happened to her.
“I couldn’t imagine a better man for us,” she wrote just three months ago.
However, she shared with one of her close friends that she had reasons to believe Chris could be cheating. Additionally, the couple filed for bankruptcy in 2015, which suggests the couple might have been struggling financially as well.
