3 dead in mysterious crossbow incident in the woods of Germany

BERLIN -- Three people were found dead from crossbow wounds in a hotel room near the southern German city of Passau, according to police.

Two other deaths, in the northern German state of Saxony, are possibly linked, police said Monday.

The revelations began on Saturday morning when an employee at a quiet inn on the river Ilz near the southern German town of Passau discovered the bodies of two women and one man after repeated knocks on the door of their hotel room failed to get a response, the Associated Press reported.

The bodies of a 53-year-old German man and two German women, aged 33 and 30 were discovered, according to Passau Police. The man and 33-year-old woman were found lying together in bed, while the younger woman was found lying on the floor.

Police are still investigating the relationship between the trio. The older man and woman lived in the Southern German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, while the younger woman had a residence in Wittingen in Northern Germany.

Two of the weapons used in the killings were found on Saturday, while a third was found unused in a bag on Monday, according to police.

“There is currently no indication of the possible participation of other persons” Passau police wrote in a statement released on Monday. Yet it unclear what exactly happened in the woodland inn.

The 30-year-old deceased woman had an apartment in the town of Wittingen in north Germany, police said Monday. They later announced an unexpected discovery: the corpses of two other women were found in her apartment.

“At the moment there are no details about their identities or how and when they died,” a spokesperson for the Gifthorn Police, who have taken over the investigation, told ABC News. Police and forensics teams are currently at the scene, he added, and further details will be released in the coming days after autopsies have taken place.