[UPDATE, 11:10 p.m.]: Authorities have released the names of three homicide victims found Wednesday evening at 4640 Greenhill Way: Dr. Weidong “Henry” Han, his 29-year-old wife Huijie “Jennie” Yu, and their five-year-old daughter Emily Han. No additional details were provided in the press release issued by Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Kelly Hoover. 
 
 Emily was enrolled in kindergarten at Foothill Elementary School. By Thursday afternoon, Foothill kindergarten families were consulting the school psychologist about how best to discuss the incident with their children. 
 
 “From my very few interactions with [Emily], she seemed like a sweet and curious child who was very interested in learning about other kids and the world at large,” said Independent senior editor Matt Kettmann, whose son is in her class. “Our neighbors and the entire Foothill community are in shock, yet again.” In August 2014, Santa Barbara County resident Nicolas Holzer was arrested and charged with killing his parents and his two sons in their home near Goleta. Holzer’s son Vincent, 10, attended Foothill Elementary School. 
 
 More information will be released Friday at noon, Hoover said. 
 
 Léna Garcia 
 
 [UPDATE, 5:15 p.m.]: Authorities have identified but not released the names of the three people found murdered following a Wednesday evening welfare check at 4640 Greenhill Way near Goleta. 
 
 “Sheriff’s detectives are actively investigating this case and are working around the clock to determine who is responsible for this horrific crime,” said Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Kelly Hoover in a press release. She added, “Early indications are that this was not a random attack.” The victims’ names are being withheld pending next-of-kin notification. 
 
 Situated on a seven-acre avocado orchard at the top of a gated driveway, the four-bedroom home is registered as being owned by well-known Chinese herbal medicine specialist Dr. Weidong “Henry” Han. Han, 57, is the founder of the Santa Barbara Herb Clinic located across from La Cumbre Plaza. 
 
 Forensic investigators from the Sheriff’s Office and the Department of Justice are collaborating on the investigation. Hoover said the next update from law enforcement officials will be at 10 p.m. Thursday night. Anyone with information on the case is asked the call the Sheriff’s anonymous tip line at (805) 681-4171. 
 
 Courtesy Photo 
 
 [UPDATE, 12:45 p.m.]: A short time ago, Sheriff’s detectives were witnessed entering the Santa Barbara Herbal Clinic on upper State Street, which is run by Dr. Weidong “Henry” Han. 
 
 Han is the listed owner of the Greenhill Way home where the three bodies were found. 
 
 People could be seen inside the clinic, but they declined to answer the door. Phone calls went unanswered. Potted plants had been moved in front of the entryway to dissuade access. 
 
 Greenhill Way neighbor John Frank told Independent editor Lena Garcia that between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Wednesday, he saw two police cars approach Han’s home. By 4 p.m., 11 more law enforcement vehicles had arrived. Frank said he watched an Asian man and another person being led down the driveway by officers. The man was not wearing handcuffs, he said. 
 
 [UPDATE, 12:00 p.m.]: Independent assistant news editor Léna Garcia is on the scene and speaking with neighbors. Cindy Lafonde jogs near the home every day and said its occupants were rarely seen, describing them as “very quiet people.” “I’ve only seen the gardener,” she said. Garcia described the home, which sits above the private condominium community of Forte Ranch, as surrounded by large gardens and not visible from the main road below. 
 
 [ORIGINAL REPORT]: A Wednesday evening welfare check at a mansion in unincorporated Santa Barbara developed into a “suspicious death” investigation, in which three bodies were found around 12:25 a.m. Thursday. 
 
 Courtesy Photo 
 
 Around 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Sheriff’s deputies responded to 4640 Greenhill Way for a welfare check, said Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Kelly Hoover. “They found evidence inside [the home] that prompted a suspicious death investigation.” The Mediterranean-style home, located in an unincorporated area between Goleta and Santa Barbara, sits at the end of a long driveway and occupies a seven-acre property. Public records show it was last sold in 2012 to Dr. Weidong “Henry” Han, founder of the Santa Barbara Herb Clinic. 
 
 As of early Thursday morning, investigators and the Sheriff’s Coroner were on scene. The Sheriff’s Office stated it would delay naming the dead until next-of-kin were notified. ||||| SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) — The "horrific" slaying of a practitioner of Chinese herbal medicine, his wife and their 5-year-old daughter in their California home does not appear to be random, authorities said. 
 
 The crime was discovered Wednesday when sheriff's deputies responded to a call for a welfare check on the residence in a modern neighborhood on winding streets just outside Santa Barbara. 
 
 After obtaining a search warrant, detectives entered the home early Thursday and coroner's investigators collected the remains, which were identified as those of 57-year-old Dr. Weidong "Henry" Han; his wife, 29-year-old Huijie "Jennie" Yu; and their daughter, Emily Han, a kindergartner. 
 
 County and state forensics teams were brought in to process the scene and autopsies were to be conducted to determine the cause and manner of death. 
 
 "Sheriff's detectives are actively investigating this case and are working around the clock to determine who is responsible for this horrific crime," Santa Barbara County sheriff's spokeswoman Kelly Hoover said in a statement. "Early indications are that this was not a random attack." 
 
 The Sheriff's Office did not immediately release information about what prompted the welfare check or describe the scene. 
 
 Han owned and operated the Santa Barbara Herb Clinic since 1991, according to its website, which says he had an extensive background in Chinese herbal medicine and Western medicine and was a co-author of books on the combination of the two traditions. 
 
 Han provided traditional treatments including acupuncture, acupressure and herbal formulas from an on-site Chinese pharmacy, according to the website. It also says he came from a family of doctors in China, earned medical degrees in Beijing and studied graduate-level psychology in the United States. 
 
 Dr. Glenn Miller, a psychiatrist, who with Han was among three co-authors of a book on ancient herbs and modern medicine, told the Santa Barbara News-Press that Han was "a healer in the truest sense of the word" and a doting father. 
 
 The home, built in 2005, was purchased in Han's name in 2012 for $1.65 million, the newspaper reported. ||||| VALLEY SPRINGS, California -- Investigators interviewed registered sex offenders in the Northern California community where an 8-year-old girl was stabbed to death -- but officials won't say if sexual assault is part of the unsolved crime. 
 
 "They have been interviewed and in some cases they have been photographed and in some cases they have been searched," Calaveras County Sheriff's Capt. Jim Macedo said late Monday night. 
 
 So far, despite an extensive manhunt and beefed-up security at schools in Valley Springs, authorities don't have enough information to name a suspect or even create a composite sketch in the death of Leila Fowler. 
 
 "This is a sad time," said Calaveras County Sheriff Gary Kuntz. "We will not rest until we capture the responsible person." 
 
 Leila, an 8-year-old known for her bubbly personality, was stabbed to death at her home over the weekend. 
 
 Her 12-year-old brother says he saw an intruder in the family's home before finding his sister suffering from stab wounds. 
 
 All police have to go with is a sketchy description: a white or Hispanic male with a muscular build, about 6 feet tall, wearing a black long-sleeved shirt and blue pants. 
 
 The thought of a killer on the loose in Valley Springs, a small town about 60 miles southeast of Sacramento, has many on edge. 
 
 "When your husband is walking around with a pistol on his hip to protect his family you get a little scared," one shaken woman told CNN affiliate KRON. 
 
 Home alone 
 
 Police say Leila and her brother were home alone on Saturday when he saw an intruder leaving the house. 
 
 He then found his sister stabbed and severely wounded. She died minutes after arriving at the hospital, authorities said. 
 
 Since then, police have been running down leads, searching in attics, storage sheds in the mountainous, rural community. 
 
 Authorities have also combed the home and the neighborhood for evidence. 
 
 "We did collect fingerprints during that search," Macedo said, "and we did collect what we believe to be DNA. Those prints and DNA will hopefully be processed within the next week." 
 
 Parents devastated 
 
 All around Valley Springs, purple ribbons, Leila's favorite color, are tied to stop signs and at schools as the small community tries to find a way to support her crestfallen parents. 
 
 The couple was at a Monday evening news conference listening intently as authorities said they would do everything they could to catch the killer. 
 
 The mother cried throughout the briefing and gasped as a detective read the results of the young girl's autopsy. 
 
 She died, authorities said, of shock and hemorrhages caused by multiple stab wounds. 
 
 The parents were too overwhelmed to speak at the news conference. 
 
 But earlier Monday, the mother spoke to CNN via her Facebook page. 
 
 "We are devastated," Crystal Walters said. "She didn't deserve this. ... She was so full of life." 
 
 A candlelight vigil is planned for Tuesday evening. 
 
 CNN's Paul Vercammen reported from Valley Springs, California. CNN's Lateef Mungin reported and wrote from Atlanta. ||||| SAN JOSE — A Stage 4 cancer patient angry that Bay Area doctors allegedly treated him like a “laboratory monkey” is suspected of setting out to kill three of them, armed with two handguns and Google maps of directions to their homes, according to authorities. 
 
 Yue Chen, 58, also planned to kill himself after he carried out what he considered a revenge mission, but he failed to find any of the doctors, got lost and may have been on his way back to his Visalia home when he was arrested May 31 on Highway 101 in San Jose. 
 
 According to a police report, Yue told police that he called his wife and told her he was scared. She cried and said, “Come back, come back, don’t kill yourself.” 
 
 Inside his rental car, officers found two loaded semiautomatic weapons, a white rubber mask and a notebook with the names and addresses of several doctors, according to a Palo Alto police report. One of the guns had a 32-round magazine and the other 16 rounds. 
 
 Police also found a typed note entitled “why do I kill,” which listed reasons including revenge and to serve as a reminder that “this is possible if you treat people like an animal.” 
 
 The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office has charged Chen with three felony counts of premeditated attempted murder. Once arrested, Chen told authorities he was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer and didn’t have long to live, according to a police report. 
 
 “This was great joint cooperation, and really prevented a huge tragedy by someone who has nothing to lose,” said Santa Clara County prosecutor Charles Huang. 
 
 On May 31, Palo Alto police dispatchers received a call from Visalia police who warned them Chen may be driving to the Bay Area to kill three of his doctors. A family member reported Chen missing to the Visalia police that morning, and when officers went to his home they found a typed note left behind by Chen which stated he “had to kill these doctors today because they are evil,” according to the police report. 
 
 Chen, a Chinese immigrant who lived in New York before moving to California, said he drove from Visalia to San Francisco, and went to a hospital, according to the report. The names of the hospitals in the police report were redacted, but prosecutors said one of the doctors worked at UCSF Medical Center. Another UCSF physician and at least one Stanford Health Care doctor also were targeted, the report said. 
 
 Both UCSF and Stanford Health Care released statements Tuesday saying the physicians involved were notified immediately and all precautions were put in place to secure their safety and the safety of their employees. 
 
 After leaving UCSF, he went to another location, because he thought one of the doctors lived there. 
 
 After his arrest, Chen told detectives he believes he was being used as a tool for research. He detailed several complaints regarding his medical treatment, beginning in 2008, including his belief that doctors were “damaging his spine so they can use him to train new students,” according to the police report. 
 
 “They only hurt me,” Chen reportedly told detectives. “They hurt me both hospitals. They really screw my life, or the doctors lie to me. Hospitals, they all cover for each other.” 
 
 One of the targeted doctors either worked or lived in Palo Alto. Police there were aware that Chen might be headed in their city and “were in position to prevent him from getting there,” Palo Alto police Lt. James Reifschneider said. 
 
 “We have to give credit to Visalia for taking the threat as serious,” Reifschneider said. “They went out on a missing persons case. Because they were thorough, they were able to identify there was much more to the story.” 
 
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 Visalia police contacted police agencies across the Bay Area that had jurisdiction over the work locations of the targeted doctors, as well as other doctors who treated Chen. Visalia also broadcast a bulletin to police agencies throughout the state to be on the lookout for Chen. 
 
 The CHP eventually located Chen’s probable location and route by pinging his cell phone, according to the police report. CHP officers flooded the area of southbound Highway 101 in South San Jose and conducted a high-risk stop of his rented red 2017 Nissan Rogue near Hellyer Road. 
 
 Chen complained of pain and was taken to a local hospital. There, detectives interviewed Chen. 
 
 The subject of workplace violence against health care workers in the U.S. was addressed in 2016 by Dr. James Phillips of Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. 
 
 In an article he wrote for the New England Journal of Medicine last April, Phillips noted the murder in January 2015 of a surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston who was shot and killed at work by the son of a deceased patient. Just days before the killing, he wrote, a Veterans Affairs psychologist was killed in his clinic by a patient in El Paso, Texas. And in March 2016, a urologist in New Orleans was shot and killed in his office by a former patient, who then committed suicide. 
 
 Although the murder of a health care worker is rare, he wrote, episodes of work-place violence against medical providers happen daily across the country. 
 
 “Health care workplace violence is an under reported, ubiquitous, and persistent problem that has been tolerated and largely ignored,” Phillips wrote.
– A family of three was murdered in their Santa Barbara County home this week, and authorities don't think the slayings are random. Authorities responded to a request for a welfare check at the upscale Goleta Valley home Wednesday and found the bodies of Dr. Weidong "Henry" Han, 57, his wife Huijie "Jennie" Yu, 29, and their daughter Emily Han, 5, in what law enforcement describes as a "horrific" scene, KEYT reports. A family friend who used to pick Emily up from kindergarten says the family had stopped responding to phone calls and texts before authorities went to check on them. Han, an author of several books, ran the Santa Barbara Herb Clinic, a Chinese medicine practice and Chinese herbal pharmacy, the Los Angeles Times reports. He was "a healer in the truest sense of the word," his co-author tells the Santa Barbara News-Press, per the AP. Details are scant, but the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's office says the investigation so far indicates "this was not a random attack." "Our neighbors and the entire Foothill community are in shock," an editor of the Santa Barbara Independent says.