Family of four shot dead at side of Florida road

The bodies of a woman clutching two children, and a man lying nearby, were discovered on an isolated stretch of road in Florida.

Detectives believe the victims' vehicle had pulled to the side of the road before someone else in the car shot them and drove away some time yesterday morning.

Sheriff Ken Mascara said the woman "had both the children clutched in a defensive mode, in an attempt to protect them. It gives the appearance that they were a family travelling," Mascara said.

A passer-by spotted the bodies of the family in Port St Lucie, about 100 miles north of Miami, and alerted the Florida Highway Patrol. The bodies were in a grassy area, several miles from the nearest rest stop.

Janis Rich, a 67-year-old retired bookkeeper, said she and her husband were asleep in their home near the scene when they awoke to a loud "pop-pop-pop-pop" sound from the direction of the highway.

Rich said the couple saw no traffic or anything else in the darkness. "We were trying to hear anyone speaking, anyone crying, but it was total quiet," she said.

The names of the 29-year-old man and 25-year-old woman were withheld until relatives could be notified. The children were believed to be four to six years old, the sheriff said.

The vehicle left tyre tracks as it pulled away.