LAYTONSVILLE, Md. -- We are learning more about the Thanksgiving day murder-suicide that left three children dead.

A family friend said the parents had been through a bitter divorce and the father was experiencing financial problems.

Earlene Voith said she is still in shock as she looks back on her relationship with the family.

"It was just devastating, knowing it was three children I loved so dearly," she said.

Police said 40-year-old David Brockdorff shot his ex-wife and their three children at Unity Park in Montgomery County on Thanksgiving, then turned the gun on himself.

Voith said Brockdorff always appeared to be a loving father.

Voith lived next door to the family in Damascus, Md., and remembers watching the three children grow up. And she recalls their mother, 43-year-old Gail Pumphrey, saying her estranged husband "just wouldn't let go," after the couple divorced in 2005.

On Thursday, Pumphrey was meeting Brockdorff at the park to hand off the kids for the holiday. It was part of their custody agreement.

Police said Brockdorff was waiting with a .22-caliber rifle.

Detectives said Brockdorff gunned down his wife and children -- 12-year-old David, 10-year-old Meagan and 6-year-old Brandon, in the parking lot.

Pumphrey and her daughter were found in Pumphrey's car, and her sons were found in the car Brockdorff was driving. Brockdorff was found in the woods about 100 yards away, police said.

Public records indicate that there was a past history of domestic-related issues. According to court records, Pumphrey had taken out a restraining order against Brockdorff earlier this year and Brockdorff had been charged in domestic violence cases in the past and convicted once.

Voith said Pumphrey was a flight attendant who loved her children more than anything. She said Pumphrey told her that the divorce had been "extremely bitter" and that her ex-husband was in financial trouble.

"Something caused him to click," Voith said. "It's still hard to believe what he's done."

Voith said she is crushed to see five lives lost, especially the children.

"Oh, I will miss them," she said. "I will never forget them."