FALCON – The community struggled to cope Thursday with the tragic deaths of a 1-year-old girl and her 3-year-old brother in a horrific stabbing the night before on a rusty old horse ranch northeast of Colorado Springs.

Left grieving is a young mother who a family friend said is about 16 weeks pregnant by the man, Ethan Courrau, who authorities believe stabbed the children. Courrau also is dead, apparently at his own hands.

“I can’t even imagine. It’s beyond comprehension,” said Jennifer Radcliffe, a friend of Candi Kane, the grandmother of the two young children, Scarlett Gallagher and Ryan Willhite.

Radcliffe said Kane told her that she and her daughter, Katie Kane, the children’s mother, went to the store Wednesday night and left Courrau, 22, with the children.

Katie Kane and her children lived in a mobile home behind an antiquated barn at the Remington Ranch Equestrian Stables, 9550 E. Woodmen Road. Candi Kane runs the boarding facilities at the ranch and lives in the ranch house close to the mobile home, Radcliffe said.

While they were off to the store, Katie Kane and Courrau spoke on the phone.

“He sounded fine on the phone,” Radcliffe said, recalling her conversation with Candi Kane.

“They were gone an hour and when they came home, Katie went to the mobile home, and Candi went back to the house,” Radcliffe said.

Moments later, “Katie came screaming to her mother that she found her children. She said they were dead and that (Courrau) apparently had a self-inflected wound to his neck,” Radcliffe said.

When El Paso County Sheriff’s deputies arrived just after 11 p.m., they found Scarlett dead. Ryan had serious injuries and was rushed to the hospital where he later died. Courrau also died at the hospital.

In a statement provided to The Gazette Thursday evening, Courrau’s mother, Beth Courrau, said her son was mentally ill. Beth Courrau is a former Gazette employee.

“We are heartbroken for all the families impacted by the tragic news that has unfolded,” the statement said. “We are still awaiting results of the Sheriff’s Office investigation. While we await these findings, our hearts grieve.

“It is impossible to wrap our minds around this. There are so many unanswered questions of which we may never know the answers. We loved our son deeply. Ethan struggled with being bipolar I, and as his parents we actively helped him seek medical treatment. We had an open dialogue and regularly discussed the challenges of the disease and the importance of treatment. The details of what transpired last night remain unclear and we cannot comment further until the investigation is complete.”

Bipolar I is also known as manic-depressive disorder or manic depression, according to webmd.com.

“A person affected by bipolar I disorder has had at least one manic episode in his or her life. A manic episode is a period of abnormally elevated mood, accompanied by abnormal behavior that disrupts life,” the website states.

The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office has released few details about the fatal stabbing, saying investigators “are working diligently to learn what led up to this tragic event.”

Sheriff’s spokesman Lt. Jeff Kramer said late Thursday that authorities are awaiting autopsies to confirm the cause of death, but that it appears Ethan Courrau killed the children and then himself.

A woman who did not want to be identified arrived Thursday morning to feed two horses she kept at the stables. She had not heard about the deaths.

“It’s so sad. Oh my God,” she said before breaking into tears.

The kids, she said, played with the horses that were kept on the property.

She said there are usually anywhere from 80 to 100 horses at the facility.

“The kids would play with the horses and were always outside,” she said.

A shiny red heart-shaped balloon, teddy bears, white tulips and daisies and a Winnie the Pooh card were among the items left at a roadside memorial just outside the ranch.

“Rest in peace little angels!” was written inside the card.

A woman who left a stuffed animal declined to comment.

“I’d rather not,” she said. “It’s too sad.”

Radcliffe said she didn’t know much about Ethan Courrau, who she believes had been dating Katie Kane for about six months.

“I don’t know anything about mental disorders so I don’t know if that had something to do with it,” Radcliffe said. “It would have to because no sane person could just do something like that.”

Radcliffe called Scarlett and Ryan “beautiful children.” Ryan would have turned 4 this month.

“I’m just hoping that the community pours out a lot of love on (the family) and just shows them that they care,” she said.

“They are totally devastated. I just think they need the love of the community just to be there for them. I think that’s what is going to help them through this.”

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Staff writers Garrison Wells and Matt Steiner contributed to this report.

Stay with gazettedev.gazette.com for updates.

Katie Kane with son Ryan Willhite, 3. Ryan and his sister Scarlett Gallagher, 1, were stabbed to death. (Courtesy of Facebook) Photo by

A Valentine’s balloon and teddy bears are amongst items left at a memorial in front of the Remington Ranch Stables property on Thursday, February 14, 2013 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Two children and a man, not related to the children, died of stab wou Photo by JERILEE BENNETT, THE GAZETTE

JERILEE BENNETT, THE GAZETTE

The scene on East Woodmen Road in Colorado Springs, Colo. Thursday, February 14, 2013, where a 1-year-old girl, a 3-year-old boy and a 22-year-old man died after an apparent stabbing late Wednesday night. The man has been identified as Ethan Courrau and i Photo by MARK REIS, THE GAZETTE

MARK REIS