Police say woman died by suicide, 2 girls were killed in Mechanic Falls 

To reach a suicide prevention hotline, call the new 988 three-digit hotline or visit suicidepreventionlifeline.org. Suicide prevention services can also be reached at 888-568-1112 or 800-273-TALK (8255). The Mechanic Falls Police Department on Thursday identified the adult woman and two girls who were found dead over the weekend. Police Chief Jeffrey Goss said the death of Jennifer Barney, 37, has been ruled a suicide. The deaths of 7-year-old Hope West and 11-year-old Harmony West have been ruled homicides. The bodies were discovered Saturday afternoon inside a Highland Avenue apartment in the Androscoggin County town, according to Shannon Moss, a spokesperson for the Maine Department of Public Safety. Neighbors told the Sun Journal that a mother and her two daughters lived in a second-floor apartment there with two dogs. But the girls, who frequently jumped on a trampoline in the front yard and attended summer school, hadn’t been seen in weeks. Neither had neighbors seen the family’s dogs, the Sun Journal reported. Goss of the Mechanic Falls Police Department did not identify the relationship between the Barney and the West girls. A U-Haul truck also appeared outside the Highland Avenue home, where it sat for weeks, raising questions among neighbors. One neighbor told the newspaper that the mother “kept to herself” and he also kept distance from her, which he added “we absolutely now regret.”