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Police Find Two Children, Two Adults Dead Inside Pleasantville Home

Crime Scene Tape
Alan Cleaver/Flickr

Two children and two adults were found dead Thursday inside a house in Westchester County.

Two children and two adults were found dead inside a home in Pleasantville, Westchester County Thursday afternoon. There are few details so far as the tight-knit community grapples with the news.

Police are saying little about what they found after conducting a welfare check at the home on Romer Avenue. Pleasantville Police Chief Erik Grutzner spoke during a press conference carried by News 12 Thursday evening.

“Pleasantville school officials requested the check following the children’s absences at their schools. Officers responded and entered the home where they discovered the bodies of two adults and two children,” Grutzner said. “The causes of death have not yet been determined.”

Mayor Peter Scherer also spoke Thursday evening.

“As you might imagine, this is a fluid situation, and there is very little we can say,” said Scherer.  “But I certainly stand here today representating a community that is reeling under the weight of a tragedy that has occurred in the Village of Pleasantville.”

The 1.9 square-mile village has some 7,300 residents, and is home to the Jacob Burns Film Center, a Metro-North stop on the Harlem line, a Pace University campus and a number of local shops and restaurants. Again, Police Chief Grutzner.

“At this point, it’s too early in the investigation to determine a cause of death or to label it in any way, shape or form,” said Grutzner. “We are going through our procedures for a crime scene…  for handling a crime scene.”

He also declined to give ages or names, saying officials needed time to notify family members.

“At this time, it appears that they were all members of the same family,” said Grutzner.

He had requested assistance from the Westchester County Police Department’s Crime Scene and Investigations Units, which were working at the scene. Police do not believe there is any ongoing threat to public safety. “The Journal News” reports that the older child attended Bedford Road School, which is a K-4 elementary school, and the younger child was in pre-school. Pleasantville Union Free School District Superintendent Mary Fox-Alter:

“As you can imagine, our hearts are broken at the news of this incredible tragedy,” Fox-Alter said. “This is a very small community, and it impacts all of us in this small village.”

Schools are open today and counseling services are available.