A pop-up canopy protects a makeshift memorial on the steps of 5 Highland Ave. in Mechanic Falls where a single mother and her two young daughters, ages 6 and 11, were found dead Saturday in the second-floor apartment where they lived. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

MECHANIC FALLS — Autopsies on the bodies of two sisters found dead in their mother’s apartment Saturday revealed one died of multiple stab wounds and the other of multiple injuries, Shannon Moss, spokesperson for the Maine Department of Public Safety, said Friday.

The bodies of Harmony Mae West, 11, and Hope Marie West, 6, were found by police in their second-floor apartment at 5 Highland Ave.

The body of their mother, Jennifer Barney, 37, was also there, and her death was ruled a suicide, Mechanic Falls police Chief Jeffrey Goss said Thursday in a statement.

According to Moss, the Office of Chief Medical Examiner is “still in the process of positively identifying all three deceased individuals.”

In his statement Thursday, Goss said his department responded to the address Saturday about 3:30 p.m. for a report of a stolen U-Haul truck that had not been returned.

“The officer and a deputy with the Androscoggin (County) Sheriff’s Office attempted to make contact with the resident at that address as she was the person who had rented the truck,” he said. “It was discovered during their investigation that the resident, an adult female, was deceased inside her residence. Officers made entry into the home and discovered two children, who were also deceased, inside the residence.”

Mechanic Falls police requested assistance from the Maine State Police Major Crimes Unit.

Harmony and Hope West were born in Lewiston and attended Elm Street School in Mechanic Falls, but had not been seen at summer school in recent weeks, according to reports.

Neighbors said Sunday that they had not seen the girls playing outside for several weeks. Neighbors also said they did not know the family well because the mother kept to herself.

The girls’ father, James Lee West, died in 2019 at age 31. According to his obituary, he moved to Maine in 2012 from Nevada and had been living in Casco at the time of his death. The obituary said “the company of his two young daughters, Hope and Harmony, was his world.”

Several neighbors mentioned that the family had two dogs, a Doberman pinscher and a small, white dog,

Goss said pets at the residence were taken by the local animal control officer “until a next of kin can be reached and a determination of the pets’ placement can be decided.”

A GoFundMe page was set up and is managed by the girls’ great-uncle, Dan Parrott of Nevada. The GoFundMe page was established at the request of his sister and the girls’ paternal grandmother, Davina Wilcox, who reportedly lives in Lewiston. All funds are expected to go to the family to cover funeral expenses of the sisters.

As of 4 p.m. Friday, the GoFundMe page had raised $10,646, above the stated goal of $10,000.

IF YOU NEED HELP: If your life or someone else’s life is in immediate danger, dial 911. For the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, call 988. Or call Maine’s Crisis Hotline at 1-888-568-1112.