A 27-year-old Arizona man who police believe fled the country has been named the prime suspect in the double homicide of his parents, whose bodies were discovered buried in their backyard.

The murder investigation developed out of a welfare check on the two parents and their adult son at a home in Litchfield Park, a city just west of Phoenix. 

Relatives had called the Avondale Police Department requesting officers drop by the house after no one could reach the family.

Police arrived on August 4 and found no one inside. Instead, officers discovered ‘a large amount of blood’ and evidence that someone had tried to clean it up, Avondale Police Officer Daniel Benavidez said at a press conference outside the home. 

Homicide detectives were called in and examined evidence at the scene. The clues led police to the backyard, where they brought in a mini excavator and on August 6 unearthed the remains of two people buried in shallow graves.

After the discovery of the bodies, the Avondale Police Department named Matthew Flores, 27, as the prime suspect in the double murder. 

Police did not publicly identify the victims discovered in the backyard, but pending autopsies listed by the Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office name a couple in their 60s, Hector and Larissa Flores.

Authorities soon announced that Matthew Flores is believed to have fled the US, though they did not say to which country. 

Matthew Flores, 27, has been named as the prime suspect in the double murder of his parents. Police believe he has fled the country

Relatives of Flores requested a welfare check on the family, which led police to discover blood in the house and two bodies in the backyard, which they unearthed with a mini excavator

Police did not publicly identify the victims, but medical examiner records show pending autopsies for a couple in their 60s named Hector and Larissa Flores

The investigation has developed into an international manhunt as the FBI and US Marshals Service have joined efforts with the Avondale Police Department. 

Police did not say exactly how long it is believed Flores’s alleged victims were buried, or when they might have been killed. 

Officer Benavidez did reveal to AZFamily that the bodies were found ‘in a state of decomposition.’

Investigators believe that Flores fled the country soon after allegedly committing the double murder. 

Through a representative, relatives of the victims released a public statement that said: ‘The Flores Semyonov family is devastated by recent events. They are fully cooperating with law enforcement. 

‘Because this is an ongoing investigation, the family respectfully asks for privacy during this difficult time. Their deepest gratitude is extended to their loved ones, neighbors, and the community at large who have expressed concern.’

The news of the couple’s murder, who neighbors described as pleasant and ‘very friendly’ to FOX10, has rocked the typically peaceful Litchfield Park neighborhood. 

‘I was so confused and I’m honestly still so confused just seeing all this because our neighborhood is super quiet,’ a neighbor told AZFamily.

Police have not said where they believe Flores fled to, though they said he likely left the country shortly after allegedly murdering his parents

Avondale Police Officer Daniel Benavidez said that ‘a large amount of blood’ was found in the home, along with evidence that someone had tried to clean it up

The bodies of the couple were discovered in the backyard of this house in Litchfield, Arizona. Neighbors in quiet community were shocked by the news

‘We don’t really have much going on here. I don’t even really see my neighbors for the most part. I don’t really see them come home. I don’t see them leave. It’s a super, super quiet neighborhood. So this is a shock to all of us,’ she added. 

‘I never thought anything like this would go on around here,’ another neighbor told FOX10. 

As federal and local authorities seek to bring Flores back to Arizona for prosecution, concern has grown over what country he may have fled to.

Efforts to capture the alleged murderer would be complicated if he went to a country without a formal extradition treaty with the US.