A 66-year-old grandfather and his four “shining star” grandsons have been identified as those allegedly killed by prisoner escapee Gonzalo Lopez in Texas last week.

       Mr Collins was named among the family of five found dead on Thursday in Leon County, while Lopez was himself killed during a shoot-out with police in Jourdanton, Texas.

       That took place not far from – and hours after – the bodies of the Collins family were located at a woodland cabin by police conducting a welfare check.

       A family member concerned about the Collins’s whereabouts had alerted authorities earlier on Thursday when police say Lopez turned-up at the cabin, near Centerville, and killed the family of five before stealing their vehicle.

       Recommended Anger as Tampa Bay Rays players refuse to wear Pride logo Three dead and 14 injured in shooting outside Tennessee bar Indiana woman ‘tracks boyfriend with AirTag and kills him after finding him with another woman’

       He was located in the stolen vehicle hours later and stopped in Jourdanton, Atascosa County. The 46-year-old murder convict was then shot fatally by police.

       Authorities said Lopez had been on the run since escaping from a prison bus earlier in May while being transported for medical treatment from Gatesville and Huntsville, Texas. He then vanished into a woodland area between Dallas and Houston, leaving the prison bus driver with an injury.

       Carson Collins, Hudson Collins and Waylon Collins

       (AP)

       Houston Crime Stoppers director Andy Kahan called the situation “absolutely one of the most gut-wrenching scenarios that I’ve dealt with and I’ve seen a lot and been through a lot” during a Friday news conference.

       The grandsons of Collins were identified during the news conference as Waylon Collins, 18; Carson Collins, 16; Hudson Collins, 11; and Bryson Collins, 11.

       Tributes to the “shining star” four have since been paid by family in comments to multiple news outlets, with Harris County Sheriff’s Detective David Crain telling KTRK the grandsons “were bright, shining stars” and that “What happened to the Collins family is unspeakable.”

       Additional reporting by the Associated Press.