Johor police chief Ab Rahaman Arsad confirmed on Tuesday that the grisly findings were made on January 9 in Kangkar Pulai. The remains were discovered by a 48-year-old local man who had been searching for his family after losing contact with them three months prior.
“The man claimed that his wife and children had been staying at the house after they separated,” he said during a press conference at the Johor police headquarters on Tuesday.
The victims were found in a dilapidated structure located within an oil palm plantation, about 2km (1.2 miles) from the main road. The house had no water or electricity supply.
Postmortem examinations identified the victims as two adults, aged 29 and 35, a 17-year-old teenager, and three children aged two, five, and nine. Police noted that the minors – one boy and three girls – had no school records.
Following the discovery, police arrested four individuals – three men and a woman aged between 19 and 35 – during raids around Iskandar Puteri on January 21.