A Sonoma County sheriff's deputy made a gruesome discovery Wednesday when performing a welfare check at a home east of Santa Rosa.

According to the Sonoma County Sheriff's Department, they were called to a home on Weeks Ranch Road, in the hills east of Santa Rosa, after an individual failed to show up for work, raising concern. A deputy arrived at the home at 12:19 pm Wednesday to perform a welfare check.

"The deputy arrived to find the front door closed but unlocked, with lights on in the home," the department says, in a release. "After announcing his presence with no response, the deputy entered the home at approximately 1:30 pm and found two deceased people in what initially appeared to be a murder-suicide."

Detectives and crime scene investigators were subsequently called in from the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office Violent Crime division.

Despite the initial appearance of a murder-suicide, the department says, "the investigation is ongoing as detectives continue working through the information they’ve received."

The names of the individuals have not been released, pending notification of next of kin.