The Liberty County Sheriff's Office is urging the public not to jump to conclusions about the incident as the investigation is just beginning. The children's father contacted 911 dispatchers at about 6 a.m. Monday, about a possible drowning on his property. Investigators said the father reported his wife was trying to harm their three kids in the pond located on their property.
"(When) the deputies arrived, the kids were wet, the father was wet, and the mother was still in the water," Captain David Meyers of the Liberty County Sheriff's Department said. "The deputies were the ones who got in and got the mom out of the water."
"(The father) stated he heard some commotion in the front yard, possibly yelling from the kids," Meyers said.
The captain said the mother and her 11-year-old daughter were taken to the hospital by Life Flight and are in critical. Two other children, a 15-year-old girl and a 6-year-old son, were taken by ambulance and are expected to be OK.
"The 15-year-old is in stable condition. She is talking. She is very tired," Meyers said. "She's been through a traumatic incident today involving her siblings and her parents."
Next door to the 300-acre property, Johnie Hurd was shocked.
"I knew something was going on because of the cops," Hurd, who has lived next door to the family for five years, said.
He said initially, the father was friendly to him when he cut their grass as a neighborly gesture, but he has not seen the family in recent months.
"They kept to their selves. I never seen them, because I always cut on my ditch and stuff. I never seen them during the day, I'm always out in front I never seen them," Hurd said.
Dayton school officials also confirm that none of the three children were enrolled in school, though it's unclear why. Authorities say the kids have not been in school for some time.
"Right now we don't have a specific focus on the mom or the dad, we're looking at both," said Meyers, adding that the agency does not yet have a motive. "I would describe it as bizarre and breathtaking. Seeing everything we've been faced with today, with all the deputies and investigators have had to deal with arriving to the scene."
Property records show the family moved from Cypress to Dayton around 2017, when they purchased the sprawling 300-acre estate. A home and pond were built on the property, and a towering gate was erected.
The sheriff's office said it responded to one call at the property in the past few years that may have been an assault, but they don't know if it involved the people here now.
Child Protective Services says right now, they do not have custody of any of the children. It's unclear whether the kids will be returned to their father or placed elsewhere when they are released from the hospital.