Man Dead In Apparent Suicide After Allegedly Killing Ex-Wife, Abducting Daughters
OLD BRIDGE TOWNSHIP, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- Two little girls have lost both of their parents right before the holidays. Prosecutors said Friday their father killed their mother, abducted them from New Jersey and then committed suicide inside of an upstate New York motel.
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Police had traced 39-year-old Anthony Trapp and his two daughters to the Bear Mountain Bridge Motel in Fort Montgomery, New York after finding his wife dead in his Old Bridge, New Jersey home.
Trapp was found dead from an apparent suicide after barricading himself inside the motel, authorities said.
The owner of the motel told 1010 WINS' Mona Rivera that Trapp checked in Thursday night. Police apparently got a tip about the car Trapp was driving and called the motel owner, who confirmed Trapp was there.
Police said the New Jersey tags on the car had been replaced with tags from New York.
The motel owner said before the police were called, there was no hint anything was wrong.
"There didn't seem to be any issues or problems," owner Doug Johnson said. "He wanted to know if there were any restaurants. I told him there was one across the street."
When state troopers arrived and surrounded the motel around 7:30 a.m., Trapp's daughters happened to just walk out of the motel room, police said.
Troopers scooped them up and carried them to safety.
Police spent over an hour trying to communicate with Trapp.
"Talking on a mega phone, asking him to answer his cell phone, please give us a sign, turn the light on, let us know you are alright or not," said witness Sue Castelluccio.
"The oldest daughter, she kept crying for her daddy," said witness Justine Lindahen. "She kept saying they wanted her daddy. That's what police kept saying over the megaphone."
"At about 8:40 we sent in special operations. They located him deceased," New York State Trooper Joseph Tripodo said.
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"As good of a conclusion right now at this point as we would have hoped for. Kids are safe. They're in the custody of police in New York state," said Old Bridge Police Captain Robert Weiss.
It all began Thursday when police issued an AMBER Alert for 5-year-old Emma Trapp and her sister, 20-month-old Sophia, after police said they found the girls' mother stabbed to death.
Police believe Anthony Trapp fatally stabbed 37-year-old Heather Trapp after she arrived at his home to pick up the girls.
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Detectives said he then abducted his two daughters and took off in his ex-wife's vehicle.
Heather Trapp's body was found after a concerned relative called police. Officers went to the home to investigate and discovered that the children were also missing.
The AMBER Alert was cancelled just before 8 a.m., about six hours after it was first issued.
Neighbors in Old Bridge told CBS 2's Christine Sloan the 37-year-old mother had moved out of the house and the couple shared custody of the girls.
"They were a good couple when they first move here, had good times. Like any other couple they fought, separated," said family friend Vinny Allen. "He lost his job and he supposedly had some medical problems. He had surgery and then a lot went downhill."
Police said the two girls were unharmed and have been placed in the custody of family members.
Police still aren't saying exactly how Anthony Trapp died, but said an autopsy was scheduled for later Friday.
"That's the worse part of this. A week before Christmas this happens," Allen said.
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