A New Jersey business executive killed his wife and daughter before taking his own life, authorities said.
Lora Grodnick, 62, and her 24-year-old daughter, Sloane Grodnick, were found dead in separate bedrooms at their home in Montgomery Township on Oct. 2, according to the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office.
David Grodnick, 61, was also found inside the residence. He had suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the head, and a firearm was recovered in his possession.
The Northern Regional Medical Examiner’s Office classified the deaths of Lora and Sloane as homicides and David’s death as a suicide, prosecutors said.
Authorities were alerted after an unsuccessful welfare check led to an investigation. The family was discovered the following day.
Investigators said the killings appeared to be an isolated incident and that there was no ongoing danger to the community. “The investigation, which remains ongoing, has yielded that the homicide deaths of both Lora and Sloane Grodnick were an isolated incident and there are no threats to the public from this tragic occurrence,” the prosecutor’s office said in a press release. Officials added that no additional information would be released at that time.
The Grodnick family had previously lived in Princeton, where they belonged to two prominent country clubs, The Montgomery News reported. Property records reviewed by the outlet indicate that the family moved into their approximately $2 million Montgomery Township home in 2021. David, a senior vice president at a Philadelphia-based insurance agency, originally owned the property. At the time of the deaths, however, Sloane was listed as its sole owner.
Sloane had previously drawn attention for helping a young girl who was found tied up and abandoned inside a Trenton home, according to NJ.com.
In 2011, Sloane, then 9, and fellow members of her Brownie troop collected toys and other presents for the girl, who had entered foster care, The Montgomery News reported.
“There’s a little girl who has a horrible mommy,” Sloane told her mother. “And she needs my things.”
A spokesperson for the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.