A woman killed her husband and 3-year-old son at a popular Pennsylvania water park before asking police for their help to die by suicide because she couldn’t “find the vein in her neck to stab,” authorities said Tuesday.
Officers rushed to the Great Wolf Lodge at 3:13 p.m. on Monday after a “distressed female” in Room 2030 “advised the dispatcher that she needed help committing suicide,” according to a Poconos Township Police Department statement.
That caller, 27-year-old Towanda resident Metallica Rose Harrison, told a dispatcher she wanted to die by suicide but needed help “to find the vein in her neck to stab,” according to a criminal complaint written by Detective Earl Ackerman.
Charles Harrison “suffered multiple stab wounds to the chest” while a 3-year-old child, identified only as “T.H.,” was found dead with a “single stab wound to the chest,” according to Ackerman.
She was taken to the hospital, accompanied by police, allegedly telling them in the ambulance that “everyday, I work so hard” to “be the best person, the best mother, the best wife,” the complaint said.
“‘It wasn’t supposed to end like this. I was supposed to have my happy family. That’s what I envisioned since I was a child, ’” according to Ackerman’s statement, quoting the suspect.
Harrison also asked how deep she needed to slice her wrist for the “next time,” the complaint said.
Investigators found a “large butcher kitchen knife” in Room 2030’s bathroom floor and a “smaller knife” in the bathroom sink, the complaint said.
The family originally checked into Great Wolf on Sept. 21 and they were scheduled to leave on Tuesday.
The suspect allegedly told a dispatcher that police could find the bodies in their room with the complaint quoting her saying that “my husband and son are already gone in the bed in the living room.”
“They’re already gone, I’m sorry,” she said, according to the affidavit.
Harrison was booked on suspicion of two counts of homicide.
“This case is an isolated domestic tragedy and there is no threat to the community,” according to the police statement. “Our thoughts and deepest condolences go out to the family and loved ones affected by this tragedy.”
The famed water park and child-friendly vacation destination is a little more than 100 miles north of central Philadelphia.
“We are deeply saddened and heartbroken by a tragic domestic incident that occurred yesterday in a guest room at our resort in the Pocono Mountains,” according to a Great Wold Lodge statement.
“It was an isolated family incident, and we’re cooperating fully with local law enforcement as they conduct their investigation. Our thoughts are with the family and loved ones of those affected.”
A judge ordered Harrison held without bail on Tuesday and it wasn’t immediately clear on Wednesday if she’d hired or been appointed an attorney to speak on her behalf.
Messages left at publicly listed phone numbers for the suspect and victim were not immediately returned on Wednesday.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, call 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call the network, previously known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, at 800-273-8255, text HOME to 741741 or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional resources.