CANDLER, N.C. -- The man suspected in a triple homicide and Amber Alert is dead and the children he is accused of taking were found unharmed.

Deputies said 45-year-old Richard Heatwole died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound during a standoff with law enforcement.

Deputies said Heatwole killed three people in Candler and then took his two children, 6-year-old Hayes Heatwole and 10-year-old Haley Heatwole.

The body of the children’s mother, 49-year-old Angela Heatwole, was found in a home on Old Highway 19-23 on Thursday afternoon, deputies said. They said the bodies of 44-year-old Divina Agulto and 43-year-old Lesley Keogh were also found nearby.

Richard Heatwole took the children to his cousin’s house in Taylorsville, N.C., a member of the family told FOX Carolina News.

Investigators said they received a call on Thursday night from a person who said they spotted the two children seen an Amber Alert that was issued. They said units responded to the home around 10:30 p.m. and shortly thereafter heard a gunshot.

Deputies said more law enforcement was called in to help with the situation, which lasted until 6 a.m. Friday. They said teams moved into the home and found the two children unhurt and Richard Heatwole dead.

The children were taken to a nearby fire station for a meal and were then taken back to Buncombe County to be reunited with their family.