FREDERICK -- Louise Lewis thought it was curious that the active children who lived across Danielle Drive from her were quiet for more than a week.She said she was ready to call police, until she watched a school official and a police officer enter the house through a window Monday morning.
Five bodies, four children and a man, were inside.
The children played outside frequently no matter how cold it was, Lewis said.
"I think everyone in this neighborhood helped to look out for those kids," said Spencer Kincaid, another neighbor.
A 3-year-old boy often wore little more than a diaper, even in winter, and played in the dead-end street ringed with townhouses. Kincaid said his wife would tell the child to go back in his yard. "People drive fast here," he said.
Kincaid said he and his wife often sit outside and would watch the children to make sure they were all right. "It's a diverse neighborhood but everyone for the most part gets along," he said.
Lewis said the couple, identified by police as Pedro Rodriguez and Daysi Marlene Benitez, were reportedly from El Salvador and did not speak English. They moved into the townhouse a few years ago.
The couple was friendly, but distant, said Barbara Jenkins, who lives next door. She described herself as a homebody who keeps to herself, but she said Rodriguez was always polite and would say hello.
"It's just so sad, especially with the kids," Jenkins said.
Rebecca Reckley, president of the neighborhood homeowner's association, said she once asked Benitez to remove clothes hanging from clotheslines in her side yard, which faces McCain Drive. Neighborhood rules prohibit hanging laundry outside, Reckley said.
Reckley said she spoke to Rodriguez on several occasions and found him quite friendly. Benitez was less friendly, she said.
Tyler Mattocks, 11, knew the oldest child. She said the children were always outside, and she would play with the 9-year-old girl who loved to play kickball and other games with neighborhood children.
Brittany Woodard, 9, was in the girl's class at Hillcrest Elementary School, and said, "She was always happy."
Alan Arias, 8, another classmate, said the daughter had not been in class for at least three weeks.
"When I found out what happened I cried," said Brittany Loy, 14. "Who would do this stuff to children?"
Tyler said the children were thin, and didn't seem to eat well. She said they often didn't have shoes, and neighbors gave them clothes. She said the children often seemed disheveled.
Lewis said the three-bedroom townhouse was often crowded at first with other adults living there, but gradually the other adults moved out. The houses do not have basements, Reckley said.
The neighborhood is one of tidy homes with neat patios and gardens of crocuses and other spring plants. The patio of 1252 Danielle Drive was cluttered with tricycles, a stroller and a plastic-sheeted dishwasher. In the yard, a gold tinsel star hung on an evergreen bush.
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