Both the victims and the alleged killers in the murder of three people in California were reportedly members of their local ‘furry’ community.

Last weekend, police were called to the scene by a 6-year-old girl after her parents — Jennifer Yost, 39,and Christopher Yost, 34 — as well as friend Arthur Boucher, 28, had been shot dead at the Yost’s home in Fullerton, California.

Two men, Frank Felix and Joshua Acosta, have been charged with the murders.

However, it has now emerged that both the alleged killers and their victims were members of a local “furry” community, also known as Furry fandom, which involves dressing up as anthropomorphic animals as a hobby.

Furry fandom also involves attending regular furry conventions for fans to show off their animal alter egos, with victim Katlynn Yost’s chosen species being a wolf, according to her Twitter.

I iz scary pic.twitter.com/vPd2d009p6 — Dragon God (@Daydreamerfox) September 20, 2016

The motivations behind the killings are still unclear, although Melinda Giles, a friend of the family and fellow furry, told the Associated Press that she had prevented Frank Felix from seeing her 17-year old daughter “in order to protect her.”

A vigil was held for the victims by the local furry community, with the organiser Parque-Johnson, whose own alter ego is that of a racoon, adding that the furry community had been “devastated” by the killings.

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