Three children found stabbed to death in a beauty spot yesterday are feared to have been murdered by their father.

Ceri Fuller, 35, is thought to have killed son Sam, 12, and daughters Becka, eight, and Charlotte, seven, before throwing himself 80ft to his death in a nearby disused quarry.

The day before the tragedy, the children's mother, Ruth, wrote about a 'completely bonkers' mid-life crisis on Facebook.

She said: 'Whew, that's my midlife crisis over with then – and only a few completely bonkers things done.'

The 34-year-old added: 'Still, very glad of the urge to reach out to people, loved that.' The comment had been 'liked' by Mr Fuller's sister, Abigail.

A huge manhunt was launched for Mr Fuller, a molecular and cellular biology graduate, after he vanished from the family home in Milkwall, Gloucestershire last week.

The children failed to turn up to school on Friday, and Mr Fuller was absent from his job as a production supervisor at papermill Glatfelter in nearby Lyndey.

All four bodies were found 75 miles away in countryside near Shrewsbury yesterday after Mr Fuller's red Land Rover was spotted parked in the area.

Police believe he killed the children and himself on Thursday – before they were reported missing.

Last night a family member said Mr Fuller had been in 'an awful state' last week but was too upset to give further details.

And neighbours said they saw Mrs Fuller, an artist, looking worried and anxious the day her husband went missing.

Speaking at a press conference, Detective Chief Inspector Neil Jamieson, said: 'The bodies were discovered at around 10am in an old quarry within a wooded area at Poles Coppice.

'Although formal identification has yet to take place, it's believed the man is 35-year-old Ceri Fuller and the children, his son Sam, 12, and daughters Rebecca, eight, and Charlotte, seven.

'I can confirm we are conducting a murder investigation and at this stage we are not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident.

'It appears to be a tragic family situation.

'The four bodies were found within 30 or 40 yards of each other. At this stage, we are not saying if a weapon is thought to have been used or if any weapon has been recovered.

'We are anxious to trace the movements of a red Land Rover Freelander estate, registration CK51 YUV, which we believe was driven by Mr Fuller.

'This vehicle was reported being parked at the entrance to Poles Coppice about 300 yards from where the bodies were located.

'We believe it arrived at this point sometime since Thursday.

'We believe this vehicle left Gloucestershire at some point last Wednesday evening or early Thursday morning.


'A Home Office pathologist will be conducting post mortems to help establish the cause and time of death. These are likely to be carried out tomorrow or Wednesday.

'The deputy coroner for Shropshire, Mr Andrew Barkley has been informed and an inquest will open in due course.'

A molecular and cellular biology graduate, Mr Fuller vanished with his children from the family's £162,000 home, which he is believed to have shared with wife and the mother of his three children Ruth, 34.

A neighbour said that he saw Mrs Fuller, who married her husband in 2009, anxiously pacing up and down the road outside her home on the day her husband and children went missing.

Mr Fuller's former landlord, who did not want to be named, said: 'He wasn't an aggressive man at all - his wife always wore the trousers, and they kept themselves to themselves.'

Officers from West Mercia police guarded the taped off entrance to the wooded area and four forensic vans parked in a small caravan park next to the entrance.

It was originally believed that the paper mill worker was taking his family for a trip to Barmouth or Harlech, north west Wales, where they had previously been on holiday.

Mr Fellow's mother Geraldine, 64, and stepfather Geoffrey Petheram who live in nearby Blakeney, were too grief-stricken to comment on the tragedy.

Ruth's parents Anne and Ronald Tocknell were not at their home on a leafy street in Lydney, Gloucestershire.