Six family members killed in Chicago's deadliest attack since 2003

Two of the victims were young boys

Police did not say if they had a motive for the killing (Twitter)

Police in Chicago are investigating the murder of six members of the same family who were bludgeoned or stabbed two death in their home. Among the dead were two boys, aged ten and thirteen.

Officers said on Friday they believed that the killing of the family members represented the deadliest crime of its kind since 2003. It is unclear whether detectives have identified a motive, but police did say they could find no signs of forced entry to the house, in the Gage Park neighbourhood.

“The victims suffered blunt trauma which leads us to treat this case as a homicide,” said Chief of Detectives Eugene Roy, according to the Associated Press.

Six members of the same family were killed in the incident (Gofundme)

Family members identified the victims as Noe Martinez and his adult son, Noe Martinez Jr, Rosa Hernandez, Herminia Martinez and her two sons Alexis and Leonardo. A GoFundMe page was set up for the family, raising money to send the family's bodies to Mexico for a funeral.

“The household was nothing but a loving and gentle family that always kept quiet,” said the person who said up the appeal.

“In the time of need the family asks for help in both prayers and donations to help send the bodies back to Mexico, where they would’ve wished to be buried.

"The donations given will help send the bodies to Mexico and help with the funerals and burying ceremonies of all six members. God bless everyone, every little bit helps and is appreciated greatly.”

Mr Roy said that contrary to early reports, the victims “were not bound and there did not appear to be any ransacking of the house.”

“I've been doing this job for about 30-plus years and it takes a toll on you,“ added Mr Roy said.

“We recognise the toll it takes on our people and we get programmes in place after incidents like this. We give our people a chance to decompress and talk about what happened.”