Six bodies found in Pennsylvania home

US police discovered six bodies in a Pennsylvania home, at least four of them wrapped in sheets and blankets in the basement.

Officials did not immediately say how the victims died except that one had an obvious head wound.

Investigators found hair, blood and bone fragments upstairs, a hammer in a bedroom and bodies in the basement, according to a search warrant affidavit.

Lancaster County Coroner Gary Kirchner said he had yet to identify the victims and planned to start autopsies.

Police in East Lampeter Township said in a statement that they were speaking to a “person of interest” this morning. Both police and Kirchner said they hoped to release more information later in the day.

Police initially reported discovering five bodies in the home after a friend of the homeowner called emergency services because the homeowner had called to say he was concerned about his family. It was not immediately clear when or where the sixth body was found.

Jessie Wise, 60, the owner of the home Leola, a town of 750 people, was in New York and became worried when he had not heard from his family since Friday, authorities said.

The friend, John Sean Adams, 24, called police about 3pm local time yesterday and entered the home with East Lampeter Township police Officer Samuel Sanger.

According to the affidavit, Adams went into the basement, stopped halfway down the steps and turned back and yelled: “They’re all dead.” Sanger discovered “at least four people lying on the basement floor, clearly lifeless”, the affidavit says.