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Report details family concerns, suspect's 'lifestyle' changes before remains found at Litchfield Park home

The ABC15 Investigators also obtained new records detailing prior police response to the house
Report details family concerns before remains found at Litchfield Park home
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LITCHFIELD PARK, AZ — An Avondale police report reveals "lifestyle" changes and details on a homicide suspect's mental health before police discovered his parents buried in the backyard.

Matthew Flores, 27, is now wanted on state and federal warrants.

A flyer released by the US Marshals Service said he's accused of killing his parents before fleeing the country.

Matthew is believed to be still on the run internationally. Police believe he left before officers performed a welfare check inside the home on August 4.

AVONDALE REPORTS

A police report obtained by the ABC15 Investigators said family grew concerned after not hearing from Larissa and Hector Flores for days, specifically since July 29.

What police officers found when they went inside the house was redacted from the report.

During a previous press conference, police described finding evidence of foul play.

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"Right now, what I can say that we identified is a large amount of blood, and we also identified what we believed is evidence in an attempt to conceal that blood," said Avondale Public Information Officer Daniel Benavidez. "And that's what made us believe that foul play is involved."

A sibling was interviewed by police as they were still searching for his parents.

He said Matthew had grown "upset" after learning his parents were having marital issues.

During that interview, the family member also said Matthew had changed noticeably during college.

After college, according to family, he moved back in with his parents and stopped drinking alcohol.

Family also told police he made "vague threatening statements such as 'you'll get what's coming to you'."

The report also described his mom reportedly finding Matthew outside during the middle of the night watering the plants.

Family says he told Larissa it was because the 'plants told me they were thirsty.'

Ultimately, the report says Matthew was diagnosed with a condition. The exact diagnosis was redacted from the documents.

Police note they did try to ping all three family members' phones before eventually learning, from the family's carrier, that they had been powered off.

Another report from Avondale police shows officers were called to the home twice in 2022. Those calls were for assault and a citizen's dispute.

The next two calls, for welfare checks, weren't made until early August. ABC15 is working to learn how many welfare checks are related to the initial missing persons case.

WHO WAS MATTHEW FLORES?

ABC15 has learned Matthew graduated from the University of Arizona in 2022, with a Bachelor of Science in neuroscience and cognitive science.

Before leaving for school, the YMCA confirms he was an employee between 2016-2017.

People that knew the fugitive were left shocked at the accusations Matthew is facing.

However, one college friend said that he had grown concerned about Matthew's behavior during college and around the time he graduated. The former friend mentioned specific statements Matthew made.

ABC15 also found an LLC tied to the address under Matthew's name, but family told police he was unemployed.

Police were also told the 27-year-old "no close friends or relatives."

REMEMBERING LARISSA AND HECTOR

The ABC15 Investigators reviewed state records which show Larissa was a nurse practitioner here in the Valley.

The report said Matthew's sibling would speak with her daily.

Hector had a real estate LLC tied to the address of the Litchfield Park home.

A California school also said they had an Associate Professor with the name Hector Flores, who was supposed to teach in the fall.

The university said that employee had recently passed away.

"Before beginning his academic career, Dr. Flores spent more than a decade with International Paper, where he held numerous leadership positions," said an email to faculty sent out Sunday. "His last position with the company was General Manager of Temple-Inland in Phoenix, Arizona, a wholly owned subsidiary of International Paper."