The six are believed to be homicide victims.

Johor police chief Ab Rahaman Arsad said the skeletal remains were found on Jan 9 by a 48-year-old man who was looking for his family members as he had lost contact with them three months ago.

According to Rahaman, the man said the house was where his wife and children had lived after they separated.

He said the Iskandar Puteri police headquarters received a report from the man on the same day and that the autopsy confirmed the remains belonged to at least one adult and one or more children.

“The skeletal remains were found intact, and based on pathology and autopsy reports, their deaths are estimated to have occurred about three months ago,” he told a press conference at the state police headquarters today, Harian Metro reported.

Rahaman said that preliminary investigations found that the six victims were a 35-year-old woman, her two-year-old son, three daughters aged 5, 9, and 17, and a 29-year-old man believed to be the woman’s friend.

Four suspects, comprising three men and one woman aged between 19 to 35 years old, have been arrested in Iskandar Puteri to assist in investigations.

Rahaman said all the suspects had prior criminal records, and initial urine tests on three of them were positive for methamphetamine.

He said investigation papers had been referred to the attorney-general’s office, which decided to charge two male suspects under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder. They will be charged at the Johor Bahru magistrates’ court tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the remaining suspects have been released on police bail.