Authorities believe 42-year-old Yariv Kaplan, an Israeli living in Texas who was involved in a custody dispute over his 9-year-old daughter, shot her before turning the gun on himself in their suburban Austin home on Monday.
Lielle Kaplan’s identity was confirmed on Wednesday. The bodies were discovered by deputies who were sent to the home for a check welfare call. Relatives in Israel have been notified.
The two were found at 5:44a.m. on December 11, when authorities arrived at the family's home for a welfare call after a relative was unable to reach Yariv via telephone.
According to the Travis County Sheriff's Office, Lielle's death appears to be homicide, while Yariv's gunshot appears self-inflicted. The office also noted that Kaplan was in the midst of a divorce and fighting for custody of his daughter.
The next hearing in the case was scheduled for January 2018.
Divorced fathers have a suicide risk nine times higher than that of the general population.