David Grodnick: NJ Family Reported Missing 24 Hours Before Police Found Them Dead Inside $1.7M Mansion in Horrific Murder Suicide

The New Jersey family at the center of a suspected murder-suicide had been reported missing more than 24 hours before police found their bodies, according to prosecutors. A mystery caller alerted police to a possible problem at the $1.7 million Montgomery Township home at 2:59 p.m. on Oct. 1, according to the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office.

Inside, officers found David Grodnick, 61, his wife, Lora Grodnick, 62, and their daughter, Sloane Grodnick, 24, each suffering from a gunshot wound to the head. The caller asked Montgomery Township police to check on the family after expressing concern. Officers reached the home and pressed the doorbell, but no one answered the door.

Grim Discovery

This prompted authorities to begin looking into the family’s whereabouts, according to The Monty News. Police did not enter the home to conduct a welfare check until the next day, Oct. 2, at about 5:52 p.m., prosecutors said.

Lora and Sloane were found in separate bedrooms, while David was found in another part of the home with a firearm, authorities said.

Medical personnel from Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset pronounced all three dead at the scene. Detectives from Montgomery Township Police and the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office, along with crime scene investigators and medical examiners, responded to the property as the investigation continued.

Authorities have said the deaths were an isolated incident and that there was no ongoing danger to residents in the neighborhood. Reports from local news outlets said the investigation remains active, with authorities yet to disclose a possible motive.

“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,” Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office said in Tuesday’s release.

Motive Still Unclear

David Grodnick worked as a senior vice president and underwriting counsel at Land Services USA, a Philadelphia-based insurance agency that handles commercial real estate transactions nationwide, according to The Montgomery News.

He earned a business administration degree from the University of Miami and a bachelor’s degree in English from McDaniel College, where he was also a lacrosse player, the outlet reported.

Sloane Grodnick attended The Hun School, a private boarding school in Princeton, before earning a degree from the Savannah College of Art and Design. She was later pursuing a master’s degree at the Rhode Island School of Design, according to The Montgomery News.

The family had relocated to Montgomery Township from Princeton. They were members of Bedens Brook Country Club in Skillman and TPC Jasna Polana, a private club in Princeton.