Three people, including a 5-year-old, are dead from gunshots in an apparently random murder-suicide committed Friday in a normally placid, rural neighborhood in the Holden Beach area.

Brunswick County Sheriff Ronald Hewett said Saturday that investigators have determined no motive for the multiple homicides of a 29-year-old single mother and her young daughter on Boones Neck Road.

Hewett said Angel Nicole Hutton Williams, a waitress at the Waffle House in Shallotte, and her daughter Aysa Sabrina Jackson, a kindergartner at Supply Elementary School, were found dead around 6 p.m. Friday inside their rented single-wide trailer home. The body of Joshua Cain Outlaw, 23, a recently discharged U.S. Marine, also was found in the trailer where authorities recovered a handgun. Outlaw was living at 2432 Circle Drive in the same area.

All three people were shot with the same gun, Hewett said at a Saturday afternoon news conference announcing the deaths and the belief that Outlaw shot the woman and her child, for reasons unknown.

"At this time, we are unable to establish any kind of relationship between Joshua Outlaw and Angel Hutton Williams or her daughter," Hewett said, despite an extensive round-the-clock investigation since the violent deaths were discovered.

Williams and her daughter were each found in their respective bedrooms, and Outlaw in the living area, Hewett said.

The sheriff's department investigation began shortly after the bodies were discovered at 2768 Boones Neck Road by a member of the Outlaw family, Hewett said. The family member called 911 to report the deaths and EMS was dispatched to the scene, followed quickly by sheriff's deputies and Brunswick County District Attorney Rex Gore.

The investigation revealed that Outlaw was honorably discharged from the Marines about six weeks ago after serving three tours of duty in Iraq, Hewett said. The former Marine spent some time in Europe and had only been in the country for about two weeks. Outlaw was staying nearby with his family, who are related to Williams' branch of the family and from whom she leased the trailer home.

"I don't know that they even knew each other, except maybe to say 'Hey, how are you,' that sort of thing," the sheriff said.

No e-mail, letters or other correspondence between the two adults has turned up.

"At this time it looks like a double-murder and suicide, with the perpetrator taking his own life," Hewett said.

The sheriff would not reveal the number of gunshots. Members of the Outlaw family spoke to sheriff's detectives but were said to be in seclusion since the incident took place. Hewett said he has known various members of the family for a long time.

Brunswick County school officials and the Supply Elementary principal and teachers have been alerted about the death of one of their students, and grief counselors will be at the school Monday, the sheriff said.

Hewett refused to speculate on any motives for the apparently random act of violence against the mother and daughter victims. Williams moved to Brunswick County from Greenville, S.C., after a separation from her husband two months ago. Her daughter's father, Mario Jackson, still lives in Greenville. The father has been notified of the death of his estranged wife and child, the sheriff said.

The shooting is believed to have taken place early Friday morning "before sunup," Hewett said, and the bodies weren't discovered until 18 hours later. The lid was kept on the homicide and ensuing murder investigation Friday night and Saturday morning to ensure investigators could work quickly without alarming the community that a possible murder suspect was on the loose. Neighbors living nearby reported hearing no shots or loud reports when the shooting is thought to have taken place.

All three victims were taken to Onslow Memorial Hospital in Jacksonville for preliminary autopsies, which indicated all died from gunshot wounds. Other evidence recovered at the scene has gone to the State Bureau of Investigation laboratory in Raleigh for further forensic examination, the sheriff said. Toxicological tests will be performed on the victims, with results available in about five weeks. When additional information about the shooting deaths is available, it will be made known, Hewett said.

"The investigation will continue, but we feel that the perpetrator has been identified. This is a terrible, terrible situation, and very out of the ordinary for where we are. It is a troubling and tragic story," he said.