Years before a horrific attack claimed the lives of her family inside a $900,000 home that was later set on fire, Megan Ghekiere had carefully chronicled a life that appeared full of warmth, travel and family joy online.
Ghekiere, who was then known as Megan Ireland, began writing her blog, The Ireland Adventure, in June 2010, as she and her first husband, Brad, settled into married life in Montana.
At the time, Megan was a preschool teacher and Brad was serving in the Army. Away from work, the newlyweds filled their days with hikes through Yellowstone National Park, trips across the United States and visits with parents, grandparents and siblings.
Their young family soon began to grow. The couple first adopted a puppy, then welcomed their son, Owen, in 2013. Five years later, in 2018, their daughter Chloe was born.
Megan’s happiness was evident in her writing, including one heartfelt post in which she listed the many parts of her life for which she felt most grateful.
In a November 5, 2013 entry, she reflected on the bond she shared with her brother, Alan, noting that he had recently emerged from what she described as a “pretty dark place in his life.”
“About 2 years ago, Alan was unemployed,” she wrote in the post. “Then he found a program that would get him up to date on his cooking skills and then help him get a job!”
Megan said her brother’s outlook changed dramatically after he landed work at a hospital in Washington state, writing: “It’s so great to see him happy now and I am thankful for all that has gone right in his life!”
But 13 years later, she would be killed by that same brother in a violent massacre that came after their parents asked him to move out of their $900,000 Billings home.
Megan Ghekiere expressed gratitude for the relationship she shared with her brother Alan Smith, pictured together, in a November 2013 blog post. But 13 years later, she would be killed by Alan in a violent massacre that came at their parents’ $900,000 Billings, Montana home
Megan and her current husband, Adam Ghekiere, with their respective children: Owen Ireland, left, Chloe Ireland, forward left, Charlotte Ghekiere, forward right, and Landon Ghekiere, right. Megan and all four children were killed in the massacre
Alan, 44, slaughtered his beloved sister, parents, grandmother and four nieces and nephews on Sunday night at the home he lived in with his mother Barbara ‘Barb’ Smith, 69, and father Dana Smith, 72.
Barb and Dana were hosting Megan, her two children, and her two stepchildren, Landon and Charlotte Ghekiere, for a weekly family dinner.
Megan and Alan’s wheelchair-bound grandmother, Evelyn Smith, 92, was also in attendance.
Gunfire erupted inside the house just after 6pm, with Alan killing all seven people inside the sprawling five-bedroom home before torching it to the ground.
He then turned the gun on himself, with the subsequent inferno razing the stunning home to the ground.
Brad Ireland, who is grieving the heartbreaking loss of his 13-year-old son and seven-year-old daughter, has now claimed that there were warning signs of Alan’s troubles.
‘There were many red flags and many people spoke out,’ Brad told the New York Post. ‘No one listened.’
Alan lived at home with his parents but spent his days holed up alone in his room on the computer, Brad said.
Alan shot his family dead during a weekly dinner at Barb and Dana Smith’s Billings home Billings. The couple had recently asked him to move out of the five-bedroom residence
‘No one knew what he did in there 24/7,’ he said, adding that Alan had been unable to hold down a job.
Alan followed his parents to Billings after they moved to Montana from Seattle. Public records show the family has been in the state since 2020.
Police have not publicly named the family but did confirm that four children and four adults, including the shooter, were killed in the attack. They have not disclosed an official motive or commented on claims that Alan exploded after being asked to move out.
Megan’s wholesome family-focused blog was last updated in October 2014 when she announced that she, her husband, Owen and their dog had moved to Washington state so Brad could pursue a career in aviation.
She started working in the memory care unit at a local retirement home. Owen had started to talk and begun transitioning from crib to a ‘big boy bed.’
Megan also paid tribute to her ‘one-in-a-million’ mother, Barb, whom they were now only living a short three hours away from.
‘I am so lucky to have a mom like mine. She drives me crazy and there are moments that I just need to walk away, but I really don’t know what I would do without her,’ Megan wrote.
‘She is my sounding board to everything, she really is my best friend, she is a fantastic grandmother to her.’
Alan Smith, left, with his mother, Barb Smith, and father, Dana Smith, at his sister Megan’s wedding to Brad Ireland in 2010
Megan launched a family-focused blog, the Ireland Adventure, in 2020 after she and Brad, together in September that year, moved to Montana
Megan admitted that she had ‘underestimated’ the amount of love a parent has for their child until becoming a mother herself and said she was hopeful that her next child would be a girl so that ‘I can have the same friendship and relationship I have with my mom, with my own daughter.’
The couple welcomed Chloe into their lives in late 2018, photos shared on social media revealed.
But their life together would cease just months later, with Brad filing for divorce in May 2019, according to court records reviewed by Our News Outlet.
Their marriage was officially dissolved in January 2020. Megan moved back to Montana in spring that year, public records showed.
It is unclear when she first met her current husband, Adam Ghekiere, but the couple tied the knot last year.
Megan’s grieving widower has branded his wife and children’s killer as a ‘monster.’
Adam, a rescue firefighter, was working at an airshow on Sunday when he heard on the fire department communications system that the horrific incident was unfolding near his in-laws home in Billings.
‘I tried calling the house and no one answered. I checked my kids’ locations, both Landon and Charlotte, and no one answered,’ he told the US Sun.
‘By the time we got to the house, they wouldn’t let us get any closer because it was still under an active shooter status. I feared the worst right then,’ he added.
After the shooting, the house was then set on fire, trapping the family inside as it burned to the ground. Police say Alan was spotted outside in the back of the burning house, where he turned the gun on himself
Aerial photographs taken after the blaze was extinguished on Sunday show that very little remains of the residence
Adam said that Alan likely did not expect Landon and Charlotte to be at the home, as the family typically held its weekly dinners on Fridays.
Police said Adam’s 12-year-old daughter Charlotte called 911 from inside the home as shots rang out.
Interim Yellowstone County Sheriff Kent O’Donnell said gunshots were heard in the background of a 911 call and the house was set alight within three minutes.
Family friend and Billings local Jennifer Mercer has hailed Charlotte a ‘hero’ over her final act of bravery.
‘She tried to save her family,’ Mercer told the Billings Gazette, through her tears. ‘And her mom and dad both agreed she lived by her favorite quote: ‘I love you more.”
Police were called to the Billings home at 6.01pm Sunday after receiving reports of ‘shots being fired’ and a ‘child unconscious,’ according to Yellowstone County dispatch audio.
‘We have a situation going on with shots being fired,’ the dispatcher said, adding: ‘There is also going to be an unconscious child inside of the home.’
The dispatcher could not confirm if the child had been shot or was still breathing, but doubled down on the report that they were unconscious.
Megan and Brad had two children together, a son, Owen, and daughter, Chloe
Owen Ireland, 13, and Chloe Ireland, seven, were killed by their uncle Adam Smith in the shooting on Sunday. A GoFundMe campaign sharing photographs of the decedents was created to cover funeral costs and establish a memorial fund in their honor
She told responding officers that a fire engine was ‘staged in the area’ and that ‘another engine’ had already been requested.
When officers arrived on scene just 10 minutes later, they found the residence already ‘fully engulfed’ in flames, Billings police said. They also heard gunfire coming from inside the home.
Police say Alan was spotted outside in the back of the burning house, before further gunshots erupted.
He was taken to a nearby hospital with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head and later died, authorities said.
Responding firefighters were hampered by there not being any fire hydrants in the area, according to Billings Fire Department Chief Matt Hoppel.
‘The delay and limited access presented significant challenges. Fire conditions continued to worsen, and the residence ultimately became heavily involved and was consumed by fire,’ he said.
The events leading up to the shooting and how the house was set on fire remain under investigation by the Yellowstone County Sheriff’s Office and other agencies.
