Coverage spread: 2 sources — 2 unrated
Lean ratings via AllSides / Media Bias-Fact-Check. How this works.
Where they agree
- Avondale police identified remains found buried in a Litchfield Park backyard as missing couple Hector and Larissa Flores.
- Their 27-year-old son, Matthew Christopher Flores Semyonov, is considered a suspect in their deaths.
- Investigators believe Semyonov fled the country before police searched the home.
- A welfare check launched after a family member couldn’t reach the couple since July 29 led to the discovery.
Where they differ
- AZFamily provides extensive detail from the police report, including the family’s account of Semyonov’s behavioral decline and threatening remarks; Fox 10’s brief items do not cover this.
- AZFamily includes a mental health expert’s analysis suggesting possible schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder; Fox 10 does not address psychological explanations.
- Fox 10’s coverage is limited to short video-based identification announcements, while AZFamily reconstructs a fuller investigative timeline.
Avondale police have identified human remains found buried in the backyard of a Litchfield Park home as Hector and Larissa Flores, a married couple reported missing in late July. Their 27-year-old son, Matthew Christopher Flores Semyonov, is considered a suspect and is believed to have fled the country before officers searched the home.
The case began on Aug. 4, when a family member called 911 saying he hadn’t heard from Hector and Larissa Flores since July 29 and couldn’t reach them by phone. The relative met officers at the home and let them inside but refused to enter himself, telling police he was afraid of “what police would find in the home,” according to a newly released police report. Officers searched the house but found neither the couple nor their son, prompting a missing-persons investigation.
What did investigators find inside the home?
Avondale Officer Daniel Benavidez told reporters at an earlier press conference that the initial search turned up large amounts of blood along with signs of an attempted cleanup, both of which pointed investigators toward foul play rather than a simple disappearance. Portions of the police report describing that initial sweep remain redacted. The remains of Hector and Larissa Flores were later found buried in the backyard of the home, and police have now confirmed their identities.
What do police know about the son’s behavior beforehand?
The police report, obtained by AZFamily, describes a marked change in Matthew Flores Semyonov’s behavior over recent years. A family member told investigators Semyonov’s demeanor shifted “a great deal” while he was in college, after he learned his father had been cheating on his mother and grew angry that she hadn’t left him. After finishing college and moving back in with his parents, his lifestyle reportedly changed completely: he stopped drinking alcohol, withdrew from socializing, and began making vague, threatening remarks such as telling people “you’ll get what’s coming to you.”
Family members also told police Semyonov had been diagnosed with a mental health condition that is redacted in the report. One relative described finding him watering houseplants in the middle of the night because, he told his mother, “the plants told me they were thirsty.” The relative who requested the welfare check said he could not think of a clear explanation for what had happened.
What do mental health experts say about this?
AZFamily spoke with mental health expert Michael Klinkner, who said he could not diagnose someone he has never met but could offer some perspective based on the reported symptoms. He said the plant comment and other described behaviors could point to auditory hallucinations, possibly consistent with schizophrenia or a schizoaffective disorder. Klinkner said that regardless of the exact underlying condition — whether a psychiatric disorder or a personality disorder such as psychopathy or sociopathy — the situation describes someone who “has nothing to lose at this point and he knows it,” calling it a “really scary situation” involving a “really scary person.”
Where is the suspect now?
Authorities believe Matthew Flores Semyonov left the country before police ever searched his parents’ home, meaning he was already gone by the time the welfare check turned into a missing-persons case and, ultimately, a homicide investigation. As of the available reporting, his exact whereabouts remain unknown, and he has not been taken into custody. Avondale police continue to treat him as the prime suspect in his parents’ deaths.
How the coverage compares
Fox 10 Phoenix’s reporting has focused narrowly on confirming the identities of the victims and naming Matthew as a suspect, presented in brief video-based segments. AZFamily has provided the most detailed account, drawing directly on the police report to reconstruct the timeline of the welfare check, the discovery of blood evidence, and the family’s description of Matthew’s psychological decline, supplementing it with outside expert analysis on what those behaviors might indicate.
Why this case matters locally
The case has drawn attention in the West Valley both for the brutality suggested by the crime scene details and for the questions it raises about warning signs within a family before a violent outcome. It remains an active homicide investigation, with the suspect unaccounted for and key parts of the official record still withheld from the public through redactions.
Sources
- FOX 10 Phoenix — Police identify couple found buried in backyard · Litchfield Park buried remains identified
- AZFamily
Featured photo: Marine 69-71 via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)