Authorities identify couple found dead

WHITEMARSH >> The two elderly people found dead outside of a residence in the 500 block of Bethlehem Pike Tuesday morning have been identified.

According to the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office, the bodies of Ross Woodward, 84, and Rhoda Woodward, 81 were discovered on their property at 504 S. Bethlehem Pike shortly after 11 a.m. by a mail carrier.

Their names had been withheld pending family notifications.

A press release announcing the identifications stated the cause and manner of death are pending toxicology reports following autopsies performed by the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office, Tuesday.

Multiple reports stated that Mrs. Woodward’s body was found, partially clothed in a yard along the side of the property and Mr. Woodward’s body was reportedly discovered close to nearby bushes.

Police and SWAT teams descended on the scene shortly after the bodies were discovered, prompting school’s in the area to go into temporary lockdown and diverting traffic from the busy stretch of roadway for nearly two hours.

A large sign reading, “Happy Transmission,” was emblazoned on the front of the house, in what neighbors told a local television station was an apparent reference to an ongoing dispute with a local electronic transmission company.

Multiple reports also stated that authorities encountered a “bloody scene” and said the deaths were “suspicious”, but no official determination of homicide has been announced and an investigation by local police and county detectives is ongoing.