CARLSBAD -- Failing health and the reluctance to live without one another may have driven an elderly Carlsbad couple to commit murder-suicide New Year's Day, family members said Friday.

Emma Brunton Mingus, 90, and her husband, Warren "Cal" Mingus, 88, were found dead with gunshot wounds about 4:30 p.m. Thursday inside their single-story home at 1720 Cannus Court, authorities said.

Carlsbad police characterized the incident as a murder-suicide, though an investigation is ongoing, Sgt. Mickey Williams said.

A handgun was found at the home. It appears the husband shot his wife and then himself, Willams said.

The couple had recently moved to the quiet neighborhood to be closer to family, according to a neighbor.

They had been married since 1991, said Emma Mingus' stepson, Jack Brunton of Carlsbad.

"They just loved each other very dearly," Brunton said, outside the couple's single-story home Friday morning."They both had been through other marriages. They didn't want to live without the other one."

"He was just in a lot of pain and she was in a lot of pain watching him suffer," he added.

Jack Brunton's wife, Madonna, found the couple after she could not reach them by phone earlier New Year's Day, she said.

Declining health had left Warren Mingus unable to walk and depressed, Jack Brunton said. The man, a former mechanic at Edwards Air Force Base, could no longer refurbish antiques and old furniture, a beloved hobby.

"He was deteriorating," Jack Brunton said. "(Emma) was healthy but she was very tied to him. She was depressed the doctors couldn't help him."

Norma Walker, the couple's next-door-neighbor described Emma Brunton as "very soft-spoken, very sweet."

She said she'd seen Warren Mingus only a couple of times. He would use an electric scooter to get around, though he wasn't able to get into the scooter recently, Walker said.

"I suspected that they took their lives themselves," she said, noting Emma Brunton had discussed her husband's declining health with her.

"I'm 87," Walker added. "I think of the mortality thing and I think if I didn't have something to look forward to, I could do the same thing. … But I have my children."

She added that staying healthy, keeping a positive attitude and spending time with her younger boyfriend help keep her going.

In another suspected murder-suicide on New Year's Day, a 58-year-old man and 33-year-old woman were found dead in their El Cajon apartment.

Statistics posted by the county medical examiner's office do not include murder-suicide. The office does track suicide by age. In 2007, it listed 24 suicides by people in their 80s. It listed five suicides by people in their 90s.

"Unfortunately, depression in the elderly is more common than we'd like to admit," said Ti Johnson, a bereavement counselor at Elizabeth Hospice in Escondido. "Aging is not for the weak of heart."

Signs that a person may be contemplating suicide include stopping their mail, newspaper or magazine subscriptions and giving away possessions or pets.

Keeping close contact with older family members can help curb depression, said Kay Cogswell, director of bereavement services at Hospice of the North Coast in Carlsbad.

Asking the person directly if they're thinking about suicide is often the best strategy, she said.

"It's better to ask than not to," Cogswell said.

Contact staff writer Chris Nichols at (760) 740-5426 or cnichols@nctimes.com.