In a deeply tragic and unsettling turn of events, a family of four from New Jersey, including two young children, has been found dead in what authorities have determined to be a murder-suicide.
The grim discovery unfolded when members of the Union County Sheriff’s Department arrived at the Lincrest Terrace home around 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday to serve an eviction notice. The residence was in foreclosure, and the sheriff’s officers stumbled upon the lifeless bodies of 51-year-old Ruben Alarcon, 52-year-old Andrea Alarcon, and their two young daughters, but according to NJ.com.
According to the Union County Prosecutor’s Office, each family member had sustained gunshot wounds. Following a collaborative investigation by the prosecutor’s office and Union police, it was concluded that Andrea, the mother, had fatally shot her husband and two daughters before turning the gun on herself. The firearm used in the tragic incident was discovered near her body upon authorities’ arrival.
Union County Prosecutor William Daniel expressed the profound impact of such a magnitude of tragedy, stating, “In tragedies of this magnitude, there are no words that can heal, nor explanations that can serve to make sense of them to the public. Our thoughts go out to the family and friends of these victims and the Union community as a whole in the wake of this horrible event.”
Neighbors, deeply affected by the somber incident, believed that the girls were under the age of 10.
Adding another layer to this distressing narrative, the house, which had been sold at a sheriff’s sale for $322,000 in November, should have been vacated by the family. They had a 60-day window to leave the property after the sale, or else face eviction. This financial and housing struggle further underscores the challenges the family was grappling with in the lead-up to this devastating event.