The bodies of 9-year-old Marley Soares and her 32-year-old mother Ariana Rosa-Soares were found Friday morning, hanged in the basement of their home. Rosa-Soares dropped her other daughter off at a friend’s house on Thursday night, but never returned to pick her up. Police found the bodies after the family of the daughter’s friend called for help when they became worried that she had not returned.

Timothy J. Cruz, Plymouth County District Attorney, said that the deaths are under investigation, but at this time they are being investigated as homicides. He said that it is too early to determine if it might have been a murder-suicide, but did say that the public was not in danger. Authorities say that “written information” was discovered that is currently being reviewed to determine whether it gives any indication as to the reason for the two deaths.

Rosa-Soares’ father, Jose Rosa, said that he believes his daughter was suffering from a mental illness, and that he had been concerned about her parenting ability, saying he had seen her kick and slap her children. He said his daughter was not a good mother, and he had tried to get help, repeatedly calling Brockton child welfare authorities to ask them to remove the children from her home, although he was unclear as to which agency he had contacted. The Massachusetts Department of Children and Families said that it does not have a case currently open with this family. A spokesman would not say whether there were closed cases.

A friend of Rosa-Soares’ described her as a good mother who spoiled her two children. However, the friend, Claudia Gomes, admitted that Rosa-Soares had problems, including past talk of suicide. Gomes said that her friend had divorced her husband, who was Marley’s father, about a year ago, but continued to fight with him. Brockton court records show that Rosa-Soares had a restraining order against her ex-husband, and another against the father of her other daughter.

According to Gomes, late last month Rosa-Soares posted a Facebook message stating she had been threatened by someone close to her. Cruz did not have a comment about the post, but did say that domestic violence did not appear to have occurred.