Police in New York State say that on Monday, a woman and her two young children jumped off a safety railing and into Niagara Falls. They were all killed.
Around 9 p.m., Chianti Means, 33, stepped over the railing at Luna Island with her 9-year-old and 5-month-old children and then jumped into the Niagara River.
This seems to have been a murder-suicide. There is a small island called Luna Island between the American Falls and the Bridal Veil Falls. The Horseshoe Falls and Luna Island are the main attractions for tourists. This island is linked to Goat Island.
After arriving at the scene, police found that they had all gone over.
While the circumstances are still being looked into, the New York State Police said in a news release that the investigation had found that the incident was done on purpose.
The search for the three missing people is being done by unmanned aircraft and underwater units.
New York State Police told Fox News Digital that rescuers still have not been able to find any of the bodies as of Thursday.
The New York Post says that Means lived in Niagara Falls with her two children, Roman Rossman, 9, and Mecca Means, 1.
New York State Trooper James O’Callaghan said there were no other people involved and that it was not likely an accident.
“The state parks have a lot of safety features. In other words, they did not just happen to be there, O’Callaghan told reporters Wednesday. “This is a small area where it is right at the crest of the falls and that is where we believe at that point is where they went in.”
The event took place at night on Luna Island, which is open 24 hours a day. There are three waterfalls in Niagara Falls, and they form the border between Canada and New York.
Which brings up the question of what really happened. That is the part we might know or be able to figure out, but we might never know.
But the truth is that we do not think there are any other people involved. We are only talking about those three people who were hurt by those three people.
The things that witnesses told the police were “alarming,” but O’Callaghan could not say what they said.
“They went there that night for sure, and none of them came back.” But, as I said, we know it was done on purpose because of the information we have. “It is harder to say why, though,” he said.
O’Callaghan said that the families of the people who died have been very helpful, which has made the investigation go faster. Means was the mother of both kids, but each kid had a different dad.
The police have also talked to Means’ coworkers. While on LinkedIn, Means said that she was a counselor for people who have been victims of domestic violence.
“We do not see any indicators of [mental health issues] I guess that would meet the level of that kind of high stress or mental instability,” said O’Callaghan.
