South Australian police have defended their handling of the Kapunda triple murder.
The bodies of Andrew and Rose Rowe and 16-year-old Chantelle Rowe were found on Monday at their rented Harriet Street home in the town, about 80 kilometres north of Adelaide.
But police only declared their deaths a triple homicide on Tuesday.
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Major Crime Investigation Branch boss Detective Superintendent Grant Moyle said he appreciated the concern among residents over the delay.
"One must appreciate that this is a very complex and complicated crime scene," he told ABC radio on Wednesday.
"Unlike TV, in real live these things take really quite some time to examine to determine exactly what's happened.
"It would be irresponsible of me to release to the public that there had been a triple murder in the house if it was later established that was not the case.
"This is not just one person deceased in the house where the scene is limited to a restricted area and you can make a determination reasonably quickly.
"This was extremely complex."
Supt Moyle said police would continue to examine the crime scene for probably for another day or so and about 50 officers would remain deployed in Kapunda for the next 24 hours.
Police have already doorknocked about 300 homes and plan to doorknock every property in the town which has a population of about 3,000.
Supt Moyle said it was very important for police to piece together the movements of the family members in the days before the killings.
"We have received a variety of information from friends of the family and relatives and other locals and we're working through that information," he said.
A search of the area around the crime scene and in other areas of Kapunda has also been expanded.
