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3 Bladed Weapons Used In Gage Park Family Massacre

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Police said it appears three "bladed weapons" were used to kill five of the six family members found slain in their Gage Park home last week.

No murder weapons have been recovered in the murders of 62-year-old Noe Martinez Sr.; his wife, 58-year-old Rosaura Martinez; their son, 38-year-old Noe Martinez Jr; their daughter 32-year-old Maria Herminia Martinez; and her two sons, 13-year-old Leonardo Cruz and 10-year-old Alexis Cruz. All six were found dead around 1 p.m. on Feb. 4, when police responded to a request for a well-being check, made by a co-worker of someone who lived at the home.

Autopsies determined Martinez Sr. and the two boys died from sharp force injuries, his wife and son died of a combination of sharp- and blunt-force injuries, and his daughter died of multiple gunshot wounds.

Chicago Police Department spokesman Anghony Guglielmi said the investigation has determined three bladed weapons were used to inflict the sharp-force injuries.

"Detectives, though, aren't saying for certain whether they're knives, or what they could have been. Most likely they are, but until we know for certain, we know that there were three different kinds of weapons that were used to hurt this family, in addition to the gun," Guglielmi said.

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None of the bladed weapons have been recovered, and neither has the gun that killed Maria Herminia Martinez. Although a gun was found in the home, It was not used in the slayings.

Meantime, funerals for the six victims have been scheduled for Sunday at St. Gall Catholic Church in Gage Park.

Rev. Gary Graf, pastor of St. Gall, accompanied the victims' relatives Thursday as they prepared to go inside the Martinez family home to collect belongings and keepsakes.

"They asked me to accompany them with a prayer, and to bless the home. It is a custom to bless the home when a family enters into it, and after such a tragedy, obviously wanting me to be with them as they came in and began that process," Graf said.

Graf said it was "a moment of tremendous silence" when the victims' relatives entered the home where the family was killed.

"We just collected our thoughts, and had an opportunity to say a prayer for each and every member of the family that they lost," he said.

Family members were too distraught to talk, but felt compelled to cross the threshold of the place where their loved ones died.

After the funerals on Sunday, the bodies will be transported to Mexico for burial.

The father of the two boys arrived in Chicago on Wednesday. He planned to take the bodies of his boys to Morelos, about 80 miles south of Mexico City. The adults will be buried in Guanajuanto, about 220 miles northwest of Mexico City.

Although police have yet to determine a motive for the murders, and no one was in custody as of Thursday, Guglielmi reiterated that police believe there is no threat to the public.

"It's been brought to our attention on numerous levels that that community is afraid, but we want to be emphatically clear that we do not believe there is any threat. We certainly believe that this terrible act was centered on this family, and we are trying to figure out why," he said.

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