A CRAZED dad knifed his three kids to death in woods — then killed himself by leaping off a 65ft cliff.
Police officers searching for Ceri Fuller, 35, stumbled across a horror scene at Poles Coppice.
They found son Sam, 12, and daughters Rebecca, eight, and seven-year-old Charlotte butchered. The 35-year-old father lay dead nearby at the bottom of a disused quarry.
All four bodies were put in bags and gathered together under a canopy as forensics experts examined the scene at Pontesbury Hill, near Shrewsbury, Shropshire.
Police had been searching for Fuller, who vanished with the kids on Thursday after a row with his wife Ruth.
The bodies were discovered 75 miles from their home in Milkwall, near Coleford, Gloucs. Police believe Fuller drove the children to a hillside then led them into woods before stabbing them.
He then threw himself 65ft to his death from a quarry cliff ledge. A source said: "The scene in the wood was utter carnage — a bloodbath. The children had been butchered. It was horrible."
Detectives said they were conducting a murder investigation but were not looking for anybody else in connection with the horror.
Detective Chief Insp Neil Jamieson said: "It appears to be a tragic family situation. The bodies were discovered at around 10am in an old quarry within a wooded area. The four bodies were found within 30 or 40 yards of each other."
Toxicology tests were being carried out on the youngsters' bodies to determine if they had been drugged before they were killed.
It is believed that POLICE recovered a kitchen knife at the scene.
The family's red C-reg Land Rover Freelander had been left in a car park about 300 yards away.
Gloucester Police issued a missing persons appeal on Friday. Fears grew when the kids failed to turn up for school and Fuller didn't arrive for work at a papermill in Lydney, Gloucs.
Bizarrely the day before Fuller vanished, Ruth, 34, posted on Facebook: "Whew (sic), that's my midlife crisis over with then — and only a few completely bonkers things done : D "Still, very glad of the urge to reach out to people, loved that : )"
A source said: "The couple may have had some problems and it appears he couldn't cope."