Authorities are reconstructing a timeline after two children and their father were found dead at a Sorrento Drive home Wednesday.
COCOA, Fla. — Cocoa police had been called to a Sorrento Drive home 11 times before two young children and their father were found dead there Wednesday, a detail emerging as investigators work to reconstruct the hours before the apparent murder-suicide.
The deaths of 5-year-old Aria Dingwall, 7-year-old Remy Dingwall and their father, 37-year-old Joseph Kyle Dingwall, remain under investigation. Police believe the father killed the children and then died by suicide. Authorities have not released a motive, explained the nature of the previous calls to the residence or said whether any of them were related to the deaths.
The children’s mother discovered the three shortly after noon Oct. 7 when she arrived at the house for her scheduled time with the children, according to Cocoa police. Police Chief Evander Collier IV said she had been unable to reach Dingwall and went inside after finding the door partially open. She then called 911.
Investigators are also reviewing events from earlier that morning. Neighbor Marcos Garcia told WESH that he heard what sounded like two gunshots at about 12:20 a.m. He said security video reviewed afterward showed a man outside the neighboring home walking around. Police later said Dingwall had been seen pacing in surveillance footage.
Authorities have not confirmed that the noises Garcia reported were gunshots from the Dingwall home or that they were connected to the deaths. No one called authorities at the time, according to the account provided to WESH. Police did not arrive at the residence until after the children’s mother made the 911 call hours later.
Those details create a partial timeline but leave significant questions unanswered. Police have not publicly specified when each person died, what happened inside the home before the deaths or what investigators believe prompted the violence. Officials have also not disclosed details from the 11 previous police calls to the address.
When officers responded Wednesday, detectives began interviewing witnesses and crime scene technicians processed the home. Police said preliminary evidence pointed to a murder-suicide and described the incident as isolated, saying there was no continuing threat to the surrounding community.
The children were initially described only as being younger than 10. Authorities later released their names and ages along with their father’s identity. The mother, who was being assisted by a victim advocate, told a WESH reporter that she wanted people to know how much she loved her children and how special they were.
The previous calls to the home are now part of the publicly known history surrounding the case, but police have not said they represented warnings of the violence investigators believe occurred this week. Without details about those incidents, their relevance to the current investigation remains unclear.
Detectives continue to examine witness statements, surveillance footage and evidence from the residence as they establish a final timeline. Police have not announced a motive or released a final report explaining the circumstances that led to the deaths.
Author note: Last updated October 9, 2026.