Two women and an 11-year-old boy were stabbed to death and dismembered before their remains were placed in a hollow tree, a coroner said Saturday, confirming the fears of many in this tiny Ohio town where the three went missing.

Preliminary autopsy reports show that Tina Herrmann, her son, Kody Maynard, and her friend Stephanie Sprang were attacked with a knife and stabbed multiple times in the back and chest, Knox County Coroner Jennifer Ogle said.