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A woman from New Hampshire who shot and killed her two children and husband before taking her own life was being investigated for allegedly stealing money from her job, according to police.
The bodies of Emily Long, 34, Ryan Long, 48, Parker Long, 8, and Ryan Long, 6, were discovered inside their home in Madbury on Aug. 18.
A third child, a toddler, was found in the home unharmed, police said.
Emily Long had worked at Wing-Itz, a chicken wing chain in New Hampshire, as the director of operations.
Authorities said a complaint was lodged with the Hampton Police Department accusing her of theft from Wing-Itz on August 11, a week before the suspected murder-suicide took place.
Hampton Police Chief Alex Reno stated, “Our department was unable to conduct a thorough investigation before her unfortunate death,” mentioning that the investigation is ongoing but currently on hold.
Wing-Itz did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Saturday.
Derek Fisher, the business owner, was unavailable for comment when NBC News contacted him on Saturday, but he informed The Boston Globe earlier that Long was believed to have embezzled around $660,000 from the company over a three-year period starting January 2023.
“She was essentially my number two in my company. We worked very closely together,” he told the paper.
Fisher and his bookkeeper discovered numerous checks from the business accounts were issued to Long and then deposited into her personal bank account on June 18.
Fisher confronted Long and requested three months of past bank statements, which she provided on August 5. He reported that the statements appeared suspicious, and upon taking them to Long’s bank, he was informed they had allegedly been “altered and manipulated,” as Fisher recounted.
He said he confronted Long again and asked her to accompany him to the bank and she declined. Fisher said that he decided to give her time because he knew her husband had been diagnosed with cancer a few months prior.
They had agreed to meet at the bank on Aug. 11, but when the day came, Long texted Fisher saying “she was resigning, or she could stay in some sort of remote capacity, or I could terminate her,” Fisher told the Boston Globe.
He said he felt no other option than to go to police and file the complaint.
Fisher told the newspaper he doesn’t seek to recover the money anymore.
“I feel like the child should get all those assets,” he said, referring to the surviving toddler. “That’s the only fair thing, or what I feel is right.”
The restaurant wrote on Facebook on Aug. 20: “Our hearts and prayers are with Emily Long’s family during this incredibly challenging time. We are profoundly grief-stricken to hear of their loss. From all of us we send our sincerest condolences.”
The grisly discovery of the slain family two days earlier shocked the community.
Ryan Long died from multiple gunshots, and the two children died from a single gunshot, officials said. Their deaths were ruled homicides.
Long’s husband had been diagnosed with brain cancer, and she had posted about the diagnosis on her TikTok account, which was made private after the shootings, the New Hampshire Union Leader reported.
The attorney general’s office said a motive is still under investigation.
“While investigators are becoming aware of various concerns/issues ongoing in the household at the time of the event in question, people should avoid speculating that this event was caused by a single reason or stressor,” the attorney general’s office said.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988, or go to 988lifeline.org, to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. You can also call the network, previously known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, at 800-273-8255, or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources.