GRESHAM, Ore. -- An autopsy showed two people who were discovered dead Wednesday died of homicidal violence, police said.

Detectives still aren't releasing details about how Anthony Patrick Cooper, 26, and Melinda Beth Kotkins, 22, died.

But after the autopsies Thursday, police said they know that this was not a murder-suicide.

They said the cause of both deaths is homicidal violence and they'd been dead for more than a week when they were found.

Wednesday morning, an employee with Northwest Natural Gas stopped by a house on Northeast Third and noticed a strong odor coming from inside.

That worker called 911, and when police arrived, they found the decomposing bodies of Cooper and Kotkins.

Police said they both lived at the house where they were found dead.

Investigators worked all day Thursday collecting evidence and talking to neighbors.

One neighbor said that the couple who lived there had a lot of traffic in and out at all hours and the man parked his car around the corner, away from his house.

Another neighbor said she thinks it points to drugs.

"I actually heard through the grapevine that they started dealing over here at Plaid Pantry, and police were after them," said a woman named Shelly, a neighbor of the victims.

The East County Major Crimes team is investigating this case.

Anyone with information about this crime should call Gresham police.

Two Deaths Ruled Result Of Homicidal Violence