A Utah father was days away from seeing his four children — the culmination of a years-long visitation battle — when he learned they had been killed in a heinous crime their grandmother is accused of committing.Limited time: Save 25% on NBC News subscriptionGet exclusive reporting, live Q&As and ad-free reading.Brady Harmon said he was scheduled to pick up his children on Wednesday and return them to their mother in New York on Sept.
1, as part of a court-ordered parenting plan.Instead, Salt Lake City police delivered devastating news that his children — Harper Harmon, 13; Hudson Harmon, 11; and 10-year-old twins Gavin and Gracelynn Harmon — were found dead in a Mechanicville, New York, apartment.
The children’s mother, Sarah Myers, 44, and their maternal grandmother, Amy Steadman, 64, were also found dead, Mechanicville police said.Sarah Myers with her 4 children.via FacebookOfficers were dispatched to the apartment after a neighbor reported not having seen Steadman for some time.
Police Chief William Rabbitt said at a Thursday news conference that Steadman lived in the apartment, while Myers and the children lived separately within the same building.“I don’t know what happened,” Harmon said in a phone interview Friday.
“I have speculations, but not to be able to see my kids — that’s the part that sucks the most.”Rabbitt said one of the children is believed to have suffered fatal sharp-force injuries.Evidence also points to intentional poisoning, including what he described as “numerous prescription and over-the-counter medications.” Causes and manners of death for all six victims remain pending further testing.
A handwritten note found in the apartment “strongly suggests that Amy Steadman was involved in the deaths,” Rabbitt said, declining to discuss the nature of the note.Harmon said he learned of Steadman’s suspected role by watching the news conference.
“I have no idea why they could think it would be her,” he s...