A New Hampshire woman who fatally shot two of her children and her husband this month before killing herself was under investigation on suspicion of stealing money from her employer, police said.
The bodies of Emily Long, 34, Ryan Long, 48, Parker Long, 8, and Ryan Long, 6, were discovered inside their home in Madbury on Aug. 18.
A third child, a toddler, was found in the home unharmed, police said.
Emily Long had worked at Wing-Itz, a chicken wing chain in New Hampshire, as the director of operations.
A complaint accusing her of theft from Wing-Itz was filed with the Hampton Police Department on Aug. 11 — seven days before the murder-suicide, police said.
“Our department was not able to engage in a meaningful investigation prior to her untimely death,” Hampton Police Chief Alex Reno said, noting the case remains open but suspended.
Wing-Itz did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Saturday.
Its owner, Derek Fisher, was unavailable when reached by NBC News on Saturday, but told The Boston Globe this week that Long was suspected of embezzling about $660,000 from the business over three years since January 2023.
“She was essentially my number two in my company. We worked very closely together,” he told the paper.
Fisher said that on June 18, he and his bookkeeper noticed that a large number of checks from his business accounts had been written out to Long and deposited into her personal bank account.
He said he confronted Long that day and asked her to provide three months of her prior bank statements, which she returned on Aug. 5. He reported that the statements looked unusual and he took them to Long’s bank, which told him the statements had been allegedly “doctored and manipulated,” according to Fisher.
He said he confronted Long again and asked her to accompany him to the bank and she declined. Fisher said that he decided to give her time because he knew her husband had been diagnosed with cancer a few months prior.
They had agreed to meet at the bank on Aug. 11, but when the day came, Long texted Fisher saying “she was resigning, or she could stay in some sort of remote capacity, or I could terminate her,” Fisher told The Boston Globe.
He said he felt he had no other option than to go to police and file the complaint.
Fisher told the newspaper he doesn’t seek to recover the money anymore.
“I feel like the child should get all those assets,” he said, referring to the surviving toddler. “That’s the only fair thing, or what I feel is right.”
The restaurant wrote on Facebook on Aug. 20: “Our hearts and prayers are with Emily Long’s family during this incredibly challenging time. We are profoundly grief-stricken to hear of their loss. From all of us we send our sincerest condolences.”
The grisly discovery of the slain family two days earlier shocked the community.
Ryan Long died from multiple gunshots, and the two children died from a single gunshot, officials said. Their deaths were ruled homicides.
Long’s husband had been diagnosed with brain cancer, and she had posted about the diagnosis on her TikTok account, which was made private after the shootings, the New Hampshire Union Leader reported.
The attorney general’s office said a motive is still under investigation.
“While investigators are becoming aware of various concerns/issues ongoing in the household at the time of the event in question, people should avoid speculating that this event was caused by a single reason or stressor,” the attorney general’s office said.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988, or go to 988lifeline.org, to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. You can also call the network, previously known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, at 800-273-8255, or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources.
