The mother of four children believed to have been murdered upstate died by suicide along with the children’s grandmother.
Sarah Myers, 44, and her 64-year-old mother Amy Steadman, 64, took their own lives before being discovered in a home near Albany on Tuesday, Mechanicville Police Chief William Rabbitt told the Times Union.
They appeared to have died around the time when Myers’ children were killed. Those kids were identified as 13-year-old Harper, 11-year-old Hudson, and 10-year-old twins Gavin and Gracelynn.
Police reportedly confirmed three of the children were poisoned, while the fourth was stabbed. All six decomposed bodies were discovered on June 23 when cops conducted a welfare check in a Saratoga County residence north of Albany. Authorities haven’t offered details about Steadman and Myers’ specific roles in the children’s deaths, though Rabbit told NBC News Myers may have been “complicit” in whatever horror transpired.
Investigators reportedly found evidence that prescription and over-the-counter drugs were present in Steadman’s apartment. What they were or whether they contributed to the deaths is unclear.
The children were soon to be reunited with their father, Brady Harmon, who lives in Utah. Harmon was said to have last visited his kids in November 2019.
He and Myers were reportedly involved in a custody dispute that authorized him to spend two months each summer with the children. Utah law enforcement had reportedly arranged for the kids to meet their father at Albany International Airport when he arrived for an upcoming visit. Harmon suspects Myers and Steadman killed the children to stop that from happening.
“It’s my speculation they did that together,” Harmon told Spectrum News 1.
No motive for the killings has been confirmed. A note was reportedly discovered at the crime scene. Its message hasn’t been made public.
The children’s decayed bodies had to be cremated before they could be brought to Utah for a funeral service with their father’s family last month, their grieving dad said.
The Times Union reported that Child Protective Services sent several letters to Harmon telling him that investigations into abuse and maltreatment would be conducted in the months preceding the killings. Police told Spectrum News the children were being homeschooled.