ARIMO — Officials would not release the names of two Arimo residents found dead Monday morning in their basement apartment on Portneuf Avenue, Bannock County Sheriff Lorin Nielsen saying he has not been able to reach the family of one of the deceased.

    Nielsen did say that officers were called out to the scene at 35 Portneuf Avenue at 7:30 a.m. and that they located both bodies at the scene, a male and a female.

    “She was 28 (years old) and he was 49,” Nielsen said. “Cause of death was gunshot wound. We have recovered a handgun.”

    The official cause of death, though, will be determined by Bannock County Coroner Kim Quick, who is expected to oversee autopsies of both individuals.

    While police were reluctant to release names, several Arimo residents frequenting the Top It Off convenience store Monday afternoon, agreed that they believe the deceased are long-time resident and Marsh Valley High School graduate Lisa England and her husband, Juan. None, however, could recall Juan’s last name.

    They said it was common knowledge in the small community that Juan and Lisa were living in the basement apartment at the Portneuf Avenue home where the two bodies were recovered. They said the home itself is owned by Top It Off owner Larry England, who lives in the upper level.

    Arimo resident John David, 16, knew Juan and Lisa.

    “I was pretty surprised,” he said. “I saw all the cars there and I thought someone got hurt. I saw the cars about 8 a.m. and it was about 10 a.m. before my boss told me (what had happened).”

    Early rumors swirling around the incident is that it may be a murder-suicide with speculation that Lisa is the victim.

    Nielsen said it’s far too early in the investigation to dub it so.

    “The evidence so far is consistent with a murder-suicide, but we are not calling it that until we examine all of the evidence and get a completed report from the coroner,” Nielsen said.

    Luis Arreola, an Arimo farm hand and David’s boss, said he has known Juan for a while, calling him and “old family friend,” but like others in the Top It Off convenience store on Monday afternoon, couldn’t remember his last name.

    He said the idea that either Lisa or Juan would be on the criminal end of a murder-suicide comes as a shock.

    “It really does,” he said. “It surprises me either way.”

    He said he never knew either one to be violent.

    “Juan was funny and Lisa was polite,” he said.

    Wendy Worlton, operator of the Top It Off convenience store, said both Lisa and Juan were nice people.

    “We are very devastated and shocked,” she said. “We’re in non-belief. No one expects this kind of thing around here.”

    Worlton estimated that Lisa married Juan about a year ago. She also said that Lisa had a daughter, about three or four years old.