{"id":81153,"date":"2026-01-08T09:23:26","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T09:23:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/81153\/"},"modified":"2026-01-08T09:23:26","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T09:23:26","slug":"possible-murder-suicide-discovered-in-pennsylvania-home-after-child-returns-from-playdate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/81153\/","title":{"rendered":"Possible Murder-Suicide Discovered in Pennsylvania Home After Child Returns From Playdate"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Pennsylvania mother of four and her long-time boyfriend were discovered dead in what police are investigating as a possible murder-suicide after one of their children returned from a playdate and reported an issue inside the home.<\/p>\n

Lehigh County Coroner Daniel A. Buglio identified those killed Jan. 2 as Sarah Rice, 39, and her boyfriend Greg A. Johnson, 42. Both suffered gunshot wounds to the head, although the manner of death for each remains under investigation, according to a Jan. 5 statement from the coroner\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

For More True Crime:<\/p>\n

Inside the Night Art Student Katelyn Markham Disappeared\u2014and the Alibi That Fell Apart<\/a>
She Had a Bulletproof Alibi After Her Ex’s Murder, Then a Witness Changed Everything<\/a>
All the Shocking Twists in a Millionaire Widow’s Death & the Tiny Detail That Changed it All<\/a><\/p>\n

What Happened to Sarah Rice and Greg Johnson?<\/p>\n

Bethlehem Police said in a statement<\/a>\u00a0that the bodies were discovered the night of Jan. 2 after an adult dropped a child off at the residence around 10:15 p.m. following a playdate. The child came back outside to alert the adult after discovering, according to police, a \u201cserious issue had occurred inside the residence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Officers arrived and discovered Rice and Johnson in the basement of the home, along with a firearm. The coroner noted that Rice was declared dead at the scene, while Johnson was taken to St. Luke\u2019s University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 11:39 p.m.<\/p>\n

Two of the couple\u2019s other children and another adult, who police said was unaware of the shootings, were also discovered inside the home and safely removed from the residence.<\/p>\n

According to police, that adult is not considered a suspect.<\/p>\n

\"Sarah<\/p>\n

Sarah Rice<\/p>\n

Sarah Rice\u2019s Sister Described \u201cUnimaginable Loss\u201d<\/p>\n

Following the fatal shooting, Rice\u2019s sister Janelle Rice started a GoFundMe\u00a0to support the family.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs many of you may already know, we have suffered an unimaginable loss,\u201d she wrote. \u201cWe have lost a beloved mother, daughter, wife, and friend to a senseless act of violence.\u201d<\/p>\n

She described her sister\u2019s death as a \u201chorrific act of harm.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI am humbly asking our village to come together and give whatever you are able to help provide this beautiful soul with a proper farewell,\u201d she continued, \u201cand to ensure her three young daughters\u2014ages 8, 4, and 2\u2014receive the care and support they will need in the days ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rice also leaves behind a 24-year-old daughter, according to Lehigh Valley Live<\/a>.<\/p>\n

RELATED: How Police Say Cigarette Butts Led to Arrest of Child “Sexual Predator” More Than 2 Decades After Incidents\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Rice\u2014who worked as a sales associate at an area gas station\u2014was described by those who knew her as a devoted mom.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was very well loved,\u201d friend Danielle Rau told the outlet. \u201cHer whole life revolved around her children.\u201d<\/p>\n

Family and friends have said that although the couple was not married, they\u2019d been together for more than two decades.<\/p>\n

Police described the incident as a \u201cpossible murder-suicide\u201d but have declined to provide any additional information.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Bethlehem Police Department\u2019s Criminal Investigation Division is continuing the investigation with assistance from the Lehigh County Homicide Task Force and the Lehigh County Coroner\u2019s Office,\u201d they noted in the statement. \u201cAt this time, there is no indication of an ongoing threat to the community.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Pennsylvania mother of four and her long-time boyfriend were discovered dead in what police are investigating as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":81154,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1488,41053,40027,41054,41052,433,11613,28,30,29,41051],"class_list":{"0":"post-81153","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pennsylvania","8":"tag-bethlehem-police","9":"tag-county-coroner","10":"tag-greg-a-johnson","11":"tag-greg-johnson","12":"tag-janelle-rice","13":"tag-lehigh-county","14":"tag-manner-of-death","15":"tag-pennsylvania","16":"tag-pennsylvania-headlines","17":"tag-pennsylvania-news","18":"tag-sarah-rice"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81153"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81153\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}