Stepmom says Great Wolf Lodge massacre suspect drained family's 401(k) before pricey weeks-long stay

A disputed 401(k) withdrawal and claims that kitchen knives were transported from the family’s home are raising questions about whether the fatal stabbing of a Pennsylvania father and his 3-year-old son was planned in advance.

Metallica Harrison, 27, has been charged in the deaths of her husband, Charles “Chaz” Harrison, and their young son inside a room at Great Wolf Lodge in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains.

April Thetga, the accused woman’s stepmother, told News Outlet that she remains stunned by the killings and believes the events may have been carefully arranged beforehand.

Thetga alleged that Harrison may have emptied her 401(k) before the family began its three-week stay at the resort. It remains unclear whether Chaz Harrison knew about the suspected withdrawal.

image shows family on left, and mugshot of woman on right

Metallica and Charles “Chaz” Harrison had reportedly been married for about three years before police accused her of fatally stabbing her husband and their young child. (Pocono Township Police Department; Facebook/Meta: Chaz Harrison)

Thetga said investigators found that the kitchen knives allegedly used in the attack had been taken from the family’s modest home in Towanda, Pennsylvania.

“This was definitely preplanned, which is horrifying,” Thetga said.

image shows family home

Court records identify Towanda as the Harrison family’s home. Metallica Harrison is accused of killing her husband, Charles, and their 3-year-old son. (Google Maps)

A probable cause affidavit says officers found the knives in the hotel room, along with blood and medication.

Police were first called to the resort after Harrison reportedly placed a 911 call while saying she was “suicidal.”

image shows split of family at waterpark

Police accuse a Pennsylvania mother of stabbing her husband and their 3-year-old son to death inside a room at Great Wolf Lodge. (Facebook/Meta: Chaz Harrison)

The alleged attack brought the family’s three-week resort stay to a horrifying end. Rooms at the popular destination can cost several hundred dollars and, at the highest rates, as much as $2,000.

The length and expense of the trip also prompted questions about how the working-class couple paid for it. Thetga said Chaz was employed by a cabinetry company in Sayre, while Metallica worked in an unspecified healthcare job.

image shows interior lobby to hotel

A father and son were discovered dead from stab wounds in a Great Wolf Lodge hotel room in Pennsylvania’s Poconos on Oct. 12, 2026. (Great Wolf Lodge)

Thetga described the loss of her grandson as devastating and said the sudden violence has left the family overwhelmed with grief and anger.

image shows family in pool

One relative remembered Chaz Harrison in a social media post as a man “whose whole life was centered around his wife and child.” (Facebook/Meta: Chaz Harrison)

“I want to hear him say, ‘Grandma April, look at me!’ I want it back. I need it back. I’m so broken, angry and just don’t understand. She just destroyed our whole lives,” Thetga said.

She said her greatest wish is to hold her grandson again and show him her love, adding that “he didn’t deserve this.”

image shows dad and son on left, son on right

Police say both Chaz Harrison and his son were found with fatal stab wounds inside their Great Wolf Lodge room. (Facebook/Meta: Chaz Harrison)

Harrison remains jailed in Monroe County without bond as she waits for her next court hearing.

Authorities said that the investigation into the murders is active and ongoing.

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