Shanann Watts, 34, and her two children Bella, 3, and Celeste ìCeceî, 4, have been missing since Monday from Frederick, CO, according to Frederick Police Public Information Officer Sgt. Ian Albert. Police checked on the residence of Watts after a friend called and requested a welfare check for the 15-week pregnant mom. At this time police are not releasing additional information about the incident, but believe the public is not at risk, Sgt. Albert said. Police are asking the public to call if they have any tips that could lead to the whereabouts of Watts. Court docs say victims may have been strangled Christopher Watts is escorted into the courtroom before his bond hearing at the Weld County Courthouse on Thursday, Aug. 16, 2018, in Greeley, Colo. Watts, of Colorado, whose wife and daughters disappeared this week was arrested on suspicion of killing them. (Joshua Polson/The Greeley Tribune via AP, Pool) (CNN) — An unsealed affidavit released Monday revealed details of what unfolded during police interactions with Chris Watts, the Colorado man accused of first-degree murder in the killings of his pregnant wife and their two young daughters. On Monday, Watts was charged with three counts of first-degree murder in their deaths, including two additional first-degree murder charges that accuse him of causing the death of a child under age 12. Other charges include three counts of tampering with a body, and a count of first-degree unlawful termination of a pregnancy, Weld County District Attorney Michael J. Rourke said. Watts, 33, is being held without bond, with his next court appearance scheduled for Tuesday morning. Here is what the unsealed affidavit says: Watts says his wife strangled their two children Watts told Colorado police he strangled his pregnant wife, Shanann, in a rage after he saw her strangling their daughter, Celeste, 3. KDVR/Weld County Sheriff Chris Watts He told police that he spoke with Shanann about a separation, and that he saw via the baby monitor their older daughter, Bella, 4 “sprawled” on her bed and blue. He also said he saw Shanann strangling their younger daughter. He told the officers that he went into a rage and strangled Shanann, according to the affidavit. Autopsy results have not been released. Watts’ defense attorneys filed several motions that were denied. They requested pathologists be required to swab the little girls’ necks, throats and hands for DNA. They also requested to have a DNA expert of their choosing be present for collecting specific DNA samples from the victims. District Court Judge Marcelo Adrian Kopcow denied the motion, stating, “The court cannot order the prosecution and/or coroner how to conduct their investigation.” Watts’ attorneys have not commented on the case. Police say Watts was having an affair According to the unsealed Weld County arrest affidavit, investigators say they discovered Watts was “actively involved” in an affair with a co-worker. Watts had denied this in previous interviews, according to the affidavit. Watts told police that he had an emotional, but civil conversation with his wife about a separation on the morning of August 13, the same day police came to check on Shanann at their suburban Denver home. Shanann had arrived home from a business trip in Arizona around 2 a.m., and later that morning, Watts said he told her he wanted to separate. He told police they had not argued, but that they were both upset and crying. Watts allowed police into home A friend became worried that Shanann, who was 15 weeks pregnant, wasn’t responding to texts or phone calls, and called police to conduct a well-being check on August 13. Watts allowed Frederick Police Department officers into their home. He spoke with the officers about when he had last seen his wife and children. The police found Shanann’s cell phone, purse, wallet and medication inside the house. Watts consented to the officers checking her phone and it was taken to the police department, according to the affidavit. Before his Wednesday arrest, Watts had told local media, KMGH, “I just want them back. I just want them to come back. If they’re not safe right now, that’s what’s tearing me apart.” Three victims were buried in separate locations Watts told police that after he strangled his wife, he loaded her and their daughters’ bodies into the back seat of his truck. He drove to an oil worksite and buried Shanann near two tanks and dumped the girls inside the oil tanks, according to the affidavit. He identified the three locations where he had placed the bodies, according to the affidavit. Authorities used a drone and spotted a bedsheet in the field near the oil tank farm where the bodies were discovered, according to the arrest affidavit. The sheet matched the pattern of several pillowcases and a top sheet found in the trash at the Watts’ home. The sheet was found before Watts’ confession to police. The drone search also found what officers described as “fresh movement of dirt consistent with a clandestine grave near the oil tanks.” Shanann’s body was found Thursday in a “shallow grave near an oil tank,” and the two girls’ bodies were “inside oil tanks located near the grave of their mother,” according to a court filing by prosecutors. CNN’s Kaylee Hartung and Konstantin Toropin reported from Greeley, Colorado. CNN’s Dave Alsup, Sheen Jones, Artemis Moshtaghian, Ralph Ellis, Darran Simon contributed to this report.<doc-sep>Shanann Watts, 34, and her two children Bella, 3, and Celeste ìCeceî, 4, have been missing since Monday from Frederick, CO, according to Frederick Police Public Information Officer Sgt. Ian Albert. Police checked on the residence of Watts after a friend called and requested a welfare check for the 15-week pregnant mom. At this time police are not releasing additional information about the incident, but believe the public is not at risk, Sgt. Albert said. Police are asking the public to call if they have any tips that could lead to the whereabouts of Watts. Court docs say victims may have been strangled Christopher Watts is escorted into the courtroom before his bond hearing at the Weld County Courthouse on Thursday, Aug. 16, 2018, in Greeley, Colo. Watts, of Colorado, whose wife and daughters disappeared this week was arrested on suspicion of killing them. (Joshua Polson/The Greeley Tribune via AP, Pool) Correction: An earlier version of this article featured on the CNN app used the wrong photo of Shanann Watts. That photo has been removed and replaced with the correct image of Watts. (CNN) — New court documents filed in the case of a Colorado man suspected of killing his pregnant wife and their two daughters suggest that some of the victims may have been strangled. “Happy Husband Appreciation Day! I couldn’t imagine a better man for us,” Shanann Watts wrote next to their photo in April. “You spoil us with love an(d) attention! You put up with 3 impatient, demanding women in the house,” she continued. “You work so hard everyday to provide for us. I love you so much.” Four months after Shanann Watts posted that photo, her husband sits in a jail in Colorado, suspected of killing her, along with their daughters, Bella, 4, and Celeste, 3. The pregnant mother and her two daughters vanished Monday from their suburban Denver home. Their bodies were found Thursday at the site of the petroleum company where Chris Watts once worked, authorities said. Chris Watts, 33, was arrested in connection with their deaths but has not been formally charged. He’s next due in court Tuesday. Authorities have not suggested a motive in the killing. from facebook Shanann Watts is pictured with her two daughters, Bella and Celeste. Couple files for bankruptcy in 2015 As stunned friends seek answers on how the love story of a couple that seemed so picture perfect could end so tragically, bankruptcy filings reveal a family that had struggled financially. Chris and Shanann Watts filed for bankruptcy in June 2015, according to documents in the court record. That was after they bought their house, an asset valued at $400,000, records show. The year prior to the bankruptcy filing, the couple had a combined income of $91,000 – most of it earned by Chris Watts, who made about $63,000 from his job at Anadarko Petroleum, records show. The rest was earned by Shanann Watts, who worked in 2014 at Children’s Hospital Colorado. Still, they were about $70,000 in debt, most of it from student loans and credit card purchases, according to the filings. The couple reported two savings accounts with a total of $9.51 and a joint checking account with $864. By all accounts, they appeared to have moved past that, with Shanann Watts posting numerous times this year about her new job at a lifestyle company. She was also 15 weeks pregnant with a son the couple planned to name Niko, her brother, Frankie Rzucek, posted on Facebook. “Little peanut!! Lover her/him already! !” her husband texted back in June when she sent him a photo of her ultrasound picture, according to a screengrab she posted on Facebook. Some victims may have been strangled Documents filed Friday in Chris Watts’ arrest reveal some of the victims may have been strangled, along with other grim details. Shanann Watts and her daughters appear to have been killed at their house in Frederick, Colorado, a town of about 8,600 people some 30 miles north of Denver, prosecutors have said. KDVR/Weld County Sheriff Chris Watts Chris Watts’ attorneys asked a court Friday to require pathologists conducting autopsies to swab the little girls’ necks and hands for DNA, court filings show. In a second motion, obtained by CNN affiliate KDVR, defense attorneys asked the court to compel the coroner’s office to look for DNA under the mother’s fingernails and on her hands. They also asked the court to allow defense expert Richard Eikelenboom to take swabs from the bodies. It is unclear whether a judge ordered the coroner’s officer to swab for DNA. The cause of death for each family member is still pending while medical investigators wait on test results, the Frederick Police Department said. Children were found in oil well Shanann Watts’ body was found on the property of a petroleum and natural gas exploration company, authorities said. The company said Chris Watts used to work there, but declined to say when his employment ended. A company spokeswoman confirmed that Chris Watts used to work there but declined to say when his employment ended or what role he served. Authorities have not revealed a possible motive or other details in the case. A judge sealed the arrest affidavit, which might have provided that information. Authorities have not revealed a possible motive or other details in the case. A judge sealed the arrest affidavit, which might have provided that information. What Chris Watts told reporter In an interview with KMGH before his arrest, Chris Watts said his wife got home from a business trip about 2 a.m. Monday. The couple lived in Frederick, a town of about 8,600 people around 30 miles north of Denver. When asked by the reporter whether they argued, Watts said, “We had an emotional conversation, I’ll leave it at that. I just want them back. I just want them to come back.” Watts said he left for work about 5:15 a.m. that day and wasn’t concerned when Shanann didn’t respond to his texts and phone calls because she was probably busy with her job, having just returned from being out of town.<doc-sep>The Colorado man who is accused of killing his pregnant wife and two daughters before dumping them at an oil work site told the police that it was his wife who strangled the children — and that he strangled her out of rage, according to an affidavit for an arrest warrant released on Monday. The man, Christopher Watts, 33, had been having an affair with a co-worker, the police said, and had told his wife he wanted to separate during an emotional conversation in the middle of the night on Aug. 13. Afterward, he told the police, he had looked at the family’s baby monitor and seen his wife strangling their daughter Celeste, 3. Their other daughter, Bella, 4, was lying on her bed and appeared blue, he said. After that, he strangled his wife, he told the police. But the authorities believe Mr. Watts — who gave a television interview pleading for the return of his family before he was arrested — is responsible for all three deaths.<doc-sep>Three years before Colorado dad Chris Watts was accused of killing his pregnant wife Shanann and their two young daughters, the couple filed for bankruptcy, PEOPLE confirms. Documents obtained by PEOPLE reveal the couple sought Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in July 2015, claiming liabilities that totaled $448,820. Get push notifications with news, features and more. At the time Chris, 33 — who was charged Monday with the killings — reported earning a monthly salary of around $5,400 from Anadarko Petroleum, on whose property investigators discovered the three bodies Thursday after a family friend reported Shanann and daughters Bella, 4, and Celeste, 3, missing and Chris gave media interviews calling for their safe return. shanann-watts-5 Shanann Watts, at left, with husband Chris | Credit: Shanann Watts /Facebook When the couple filed for bankruptcy, Shanann worked at Children’s Hospital Colorado, earning a monthly salary of $2,977. But for reasons not made clear in the filing, the couple’s reported combined income was tumbling — from $147,256 in fiscal year 2013, down to $90,789 in fiscal 2014, and then to $40,491 at the time of their 2015 filing. Medical and credit card debt had combined with mortgage payments on their $400,000 home in Frederick, Colo., to undermine their financial stability, the record shows. RELATED VIDEO: Pregnant Mom & 2 Daughters Likely Killed at Home — Allegedly by Husband — Before Bodies Were Dumped A Chapter 7 filing in Colorado, if approved by the court, allows debtors to hold onto and keep making payments on assets such as a house and car but offers a “fresh start” by eliminating other debts, according to ColoradoBankruptcy.com. At the time of the filing, Chris and Shanann, who married on Nov. 3, 2012, were the parents of only one daughter, Bella, who was 1 year old at the time. Shanann later would take a job in direct marketing as a seller of health supplements, a move that gave her the independence to work from home or anywhere she wanted while caring for and traveling with her kids, according to her posts on Facebook and Instagram. shanann-watts-2 Shanann Watts, at right, with her daughters | Credit: Shanann Watts /Facebook Her job change also allowed for work travel to destinations such as New Orleans, Toronto and Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic, she wrote. Last June she and Chris traveled to San Diego on their sixth paid-for vacation in two years from direct-selling company Le-Vel, she wrote on Facebook. An October 2018 work trip to Cabo San Lucas in Mexico was planned. “I am in LOVE with this lifestyle of just living and enjoying every moment with my family … I’m addicted to creating memories and living life to its fullest,” Shanann wrote on a June 16 Facebook post. The couple listed debts in July 2015 that included $11,245 in student loans; $740 to Choice Recovery in Columbus, Ohio, for health and chiropractic services; $1,301 to Kaiser Permanente for medical services; and $2,612 to Good Samaritan Medical Center. The couple had met on Facebook in 2010 after Shanann was diagnosed with a health condition that her brother identified as lupus, and after Shanann said she quit her job of nine years as a consequence of her condition. She later credited Chris for lifting her out of her despair. • Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter. Other debts claimed by the couple in July 2015 included $1,547 to Macy’s, $3,038 to Nordstrom’s, and $18,968 to Sharonview Federal Credit Union. Assets listed at the time of their bankruptcy filing included a 2006 Ford Mustang valued at $8,275; weddings rings valued at $1,000; and a dog, which they valued at $5. It was not clear whether the bankruptcy protection sought by the couple was granted. Chris was “actively involved in an affair with a coworker” before he allegedly killed Shanann and their two children, court documents obtained by PEOPLE allege. He was arrested Wednesday, a day before the three bodies were located, and he remains in custody without bond. He is due in court Tuesday to be advised of the charges against him.<doc-sep>
Shanann Watts, 34, and her two children Bella, 3, and Celeste ìCeceî, 4, have been missing since Monday from Frederick, CO, according to Frederick Police Public Information Officer Sgt. Ian Albert. Police checked on the residence of Watts after a friend called and requested a welfare check for the 15-week pregnant mom. At this time police are not releasing additional information about the incident, but believe the public is not at risk, Sgt. Albert said. Police are asking the public to call if they have any tips that could lead to the whereabouts of Watts. Court docs say victims may have been strangled Christopher Watts is escorted into the courtroom before his bond hearing at the Weld County Courthouse on Thursday, Aug. 16, 2018, in Greeley, Colo. Watts, of Colorado, whose wife and daughters disappeared this week was arrested on suspicion of killing them. (Joshua Polson/The Greeley Tribune via AP, Pool) (CNN) — A murder suspect told police in Colorado he strangled his pregnant wife in a rage after he saw her on a baby monitor strangling the couple’s 3-year-old daughter, Celeste, according to court documents. Chris Watts said the couple’s other daughter, Bella, 4, was already “sprawled out” on the bed and blue in the couple’s bedroom, according to an arrest affidavit from Frederick police. Watts confessed to burying his wife, Shanann Watts, 34, near two oil tanks and dumping his daughters’ bodies in the tanks, according to the affidavit. But prosecutors paint a different picture of the killing. Watts was charged Monday with three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of his wife and young daughters. Two additional first-degree murder charges accuse him of causing the death of a child younger than 12. The 33-year-old father also faces three counts of tampering with a body, and a count of first-degree unlawful termination of a pregnancy, said Weld County District Attorney Michael J. Rourke, who did not reveal a motive. Watts, who was arrested last week, is being held without bond, with his next court appearance scheduled for Tuesday morning. Defendant previously denied affair with co-worker, investigators say Investigators said they learned Watts was “actively involved” in an affair with a co-worker. He had previously denied it in interviews, according to the affidavit. Early on the morning of August 13, Watts said he told his wife he wanted to separate, and then the killings took place, court papers said. Before Watts’ confession, authorities used a drone that spotted a bedsheet in a field near the oil tanks, the affidavit said. “The sheet matched the pattern of several pillowcases and a top sheet recovered from a kitchen trash can from [Watts’] residence early that day,” the affidavit said. In an emotional address Monday, Shanann’s father, Frank Rzucek Sr., thanked authorities for finding the bodies of his family members. He said the family appreciated those who attended a candlelight vigil and expressed support. “Keep the prayers coming for our family,” he said, holding back tears. KDVR/Weld County Sheriff Chris Watts Prosecutors: Pregnant wife was buried in a ‘shallow grave’ Shanann, Bella and Celeste were reported missing August 13 from their home in Frederick, a town of about 8,600 people 30 miles north of Denver. The location where their bodies were found on August 15 was the site of a petroleum and natural gas company where Chris Watts had worked, authorities said. Watts was terminated from Anadarko Petroleum on August 15, company communications manager Jennifer Brice said. A court filing by prosecutors says Shanann Watts’ body was “recovered from a shallow grave near an oil tank,” and that “law enforcement recovered the bodies of defendant’s two daughters from inside oil tanks located near the grave of their mother.” The girls’ bodies were in an “oil well filled with crude oil for several days,” Chris Watts’ attorneys indicated in a court filing. Autopsy results have not been released, but documents filed last week in Watts’ arrest revealed some of the victims may have been strangled, along with other details. On Monday, a judge denied several defense motions, including a request to require pathologists to swab the little girls’ necks, throats and hands for DNA. Watts’ attorneys have not publicly commented on the case. Friend recalls last time she saw Shanann In a Monday interview on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” friend Nicole Atkinson said she dropped Shanann off at home about 2 a.m. August 13 after they finished a business trip.