The grieving family of Emily Long, a troubled mother, has been observed returning to her residence in New Hampshire, just days after she tragically shot and killed her husband who was battling cancer, along with two of their children, in a murder-suicide that has left the nation in shock.

The 34-year-old Long fatally shot her 48-year-old husband, Ryan, their eight-year-old son, Parker, and six-year-old daughter, Ryan, before taking her own life at their Madbury home early on Monday morning.

She spared the couple’s three-year-old toddler James, who was found unharmed and wandering around the home by cops who responded to the scene. 

Authorities confirmed the boy is now being cared for by family members. 

On Thursday evening, family members from both Ryan’s and Emily’s sides visited the house to retrieve items such as children’s clothing and household items, placing them in laundry baskets.

Among those coming in and out of the residence were Emily’s parents, Richard and Cindy Hobson, her sister Jessalyn, and Ryan’s sister-in-law, Cora Long. They all bore solemn expressions and it is believed this was their first opportunity to enter the home since the tragic incident.

Children’s water bottles and bedding were packed into waiting vehicles in the driveway.

The group also disposed of garbage by the roadside while removing boxes of personal documents and photo frames. The lights were on in the upstairs rooms of the house; however, officials have not disclosed the exact locations within the home where the tragic events occurred.

For one light moment of relief one of the six-person posse who turned up in two cars, shot a basketball into the hoop outside the home. 

On Thursday, about 40 locals gathered to mourn the Longs in a vigil held at Madbury Town Hall by a local church deacon. 

But as candles flickered in memory of the slain family, Emily’s devastated relatives were instead making a somber return to retrieve belongings from the five-bedroom house where she had lived for five years. 

Members of both families united in their grief at the $600,000 property, exclusive Daily Mail photos show.   

The group was seen removing clothing and laundry from the home, emptying garbage cans and taking in parcels that had been left on the porch.

Flowers paying tribute to her ailing, cancer-stricken husband Ryan, a psychologist at Oyster River Middle School in Durham, and their two children were left on a tree by the gate to the property. 

A trampoline, swing set and tree house remain in the back yard, with a children’s tricycle being moved from the front garden by the family.

They declined to comment when approached by Daily Mail, saying they ‘couldn’t deal’ with the situation but may want to talk about Emily’s struggles in ‘the months to come’.

Meanwhile, at the community vigil, a sign reading ‘united in grief for the Long family’, welcomed mourners, who were given a prayer sheet and candles to mark the tragedy.

Church deacon Beverly Ketel addressed the crowd by saying: ‘We’re grieving for a tragedy that we’ll never understand, for children who will not grow up, for a toddler who will never get to grow up with parents and siblings.’

Documents obtained by Daily Mail show that the couple bought their home in 2020, taking out a $270,000 mortgage.

But they were forced to remortgage the property three years ago for $80,000 – with friends claiming they were terrified of losing the house. 

Long had been open about struggling with her husband’s diagnosis online, posting several videos to her TikTok account before the murders on Monday.

She admitted to using her account as her ‘personal diary’ and adding that it was ‘cheaper than therapy’.

Earlier this week,helping run a small chicken wings chain and quit. 

‘Ryan was bedridden, from what I gather he was undergoing chemotherapy. He was just weak and sick’, they said

‘Emily had been fairly open about struggling with severe depression and not knowing how to explain to the kids that they were going to lose their father.

‘She had also left her job but was unhappy with her career and they were obviously struggling with money and at risk of losing the house.

‘Emily had a network of friends around her who knew what she was going through and even so were still shocked and caught off guard.’

Long killed eight-year-old son Parker and six-year-old daughter Ryan, each with a single bullet around 5:30am Monday.

Ryan was then blasted multiple times by Long, before she turned her handgun on herself.

Assistant Attorney General Ben Agati said that investigators are probing the circumstances of the shooting and conceded finances and impending widowhood had likely been playing on the murderess’s mind. 

He said: ‘Some that involved the idea of what was going on with the money situation, with the health situation, I think the big thing is to not speculate one reason why something like this would happen.

‘Homicide and suicide is usually much, much more complex than just one reason. There’s still more information we’re trying to gather to narrow down different things.’

Agati said he expects the findings to be examined by the state Department of Justice’s Domestic Violence Fatality Review Committee.

In the family’s final days, Long discussed their rapidly deteriorating situation on her TikTok channel, admitting she knew that she needed to seek therapy.

‘I feel very, very lonely. I feel so anxious… I know that I need to see a therapist, I know that I need to ask for help… but I’m not ready to acknowledge that, I think,’ she confessed in a video shared just two weeks ago.

‘I feel so guilty that I’m not ready to get help yet, but… it is what it is, right? I know that I will one day, and I hope that I make the decision before I feel that it’s too late.’

Long said in the same video that she could feel herself ‘withering away’ with the knowledge that ‘this isn’t going away, this is only going to get worse’.

And as her husband’s condition deteriorated, Long opened up about the realization that she would become a single parent to three traumatized children.

‘I’m doing all the bed times and by the time I’m saying goodnight to my third kid it hits me that this is going to be every single night at some point for the rest of my life,’ she said.

‘Where I’m doing all three bedtimes alone, and then I shut the door to the final kid and I’m totally by myself and I have no one to talk about my day with.’

Long said despite trying to remain positive, she also had to ‘plan to be a widow, and plan to support your family on one income and to be a single parent of three kids and juggle all the things that come with that.’

‘I’m mourning my husband, I’m mourning my marriage and it’s still there. It’s very confusing and it’s very overwhelming.’

In her last video, shared just two days before their deaths, Long explained that she and her children were struggling with her husband’s diagnosis, but that she was committed to improving her mental health.

‘All I want to do is hide under a blanket with my kids, but that isn’t healthy for them and it’s not healthy for me,’ she said.

‘Today I decided I need to make a conscious effort to shift my mindset. I’m getting out of this depression whether I want to or not. I am determined to create normalcy.’