A body believed to be Karen Solomon, the missing wife of a longtime Worcester, Massachusetts, police officer who was found dead last week, was discovered Monday in a wooded area of the city with a handgun nearby, authorities said.
Worcester Police Chief Paul Saucier said two employees of Fairlawn Rehabilitation Hospital came across the body while walking near the facility at approximately 12:40 p.m.
“Upon further examination, we believe this person to be Karen Solomon,” Saucier said during a news conference, noting that the identification remains preliminary until it is confirmed by the medical examiner.
Investigators believe Solomon died by suicide, Saucier said. Preliminary findings indicated she suffered a gunshot wound, and police recovered a handgun near her body. The weapon was not a police service firearm, he added.
Karen Solomon, 58, was wanted by police in Massachusetts. (Worcester Police Department)
Saucier said the department now considers the case a “tragic murder-suicide,” while emphasizing that the investigation has not yet concluded.
Solomon, 58, had been missing since Aug. 18, when her husband, Worcester Police Officer Kurt Solomon, was found dead inside the couple’s home on Wildwood Avenue.
Officers were called to the residence around 5:28 a.m. after a report of a person down and found the off-duty Worcester police officer dead inside, authorities said. Officials have not released his cause or manner of death.
Worcester County District Attorney Joseph Early Jr. arrives at Westside Animal Clinic while law enforcement searches the Coes Pond area during the investigation involving Karen Solomon and the death of Worcester Police Officer Kurt Solomon. (USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect)
Authorities initially said Karen Solomon was a suspect they wanted to question about what happened at the home and warned that she was believed to be armed and dangerous.
The woman’s body was found about 0.6 miles from an area where police had released video showing Solomon walking behind an animal clinic, Saucier said. The Coes Pond area and park, which police had been searching since the first day of the investigation, spans about 90 acres.
Saucier said investigators cannot yet say when Solomon died. Police did not receive any reports of a gunshot being heard Monday, he said.
The chief also pushed back on speculation surrounding domestic violence. The case was described as domestic under Massachusetts law because it involved family or household members, he said, but added that the Solomon family had no history of domestic abuse.
The Solomon family said the “nightmare of the past week” had left them “heartbroken and rudderless” in a statement read by Saucier.
“The compassion, dedication and empathy of all the agencies involved have given us light in face of darkness,” the family said, thanking local, state and federal law enforcement agencies that joined the search. “You have given us comfort knowing that you were working on our behalf for us.”
Worcester Police Officer Kurt Solomon, a 31-year department veteran who was identified by the New England Police Benevolent Association after an off-duty officer was found dead at a Worcester home. (The New England PBA, Inc.)
Police have disclosed few details about what happened inside the residence, citing the ongoing investigation.
Public records reviewed by The Associated Press show Kurt and Karen Solomon co-owned the Wildwood Avenue residence. Kurt Solomon also identified Karen Solomon as his wife in a 2016 bankruptcy filing, according to the AP.
The New England Police Benevolent Association identified Kurt Solomon as a 31-year veteran of the Worcester Police Department and remembered him as an “incredibly dependable officer, colleague and friend.”
“Thirty-one years of service represents an extraordinary commitment to a community and to the profession of law enforcement,” the association said. “Officer Kurt Solomon answered that call for more than three decades, and his service, friendship and dedication will not be forgotten.”
The investigation remains ongoing.
