Child Entered Home After Playdate and Ran Back Outside for Help — Police Later Found a Murder-Suicide Inside

A community in Pennsylvania is mourning the loss of a local mother whose family says she was killed in an apparent murder-suicide carried out by her longtime partner—just before one of their children returned home from a playdate and made the tragic discovery.

Bethlehem officials identified the deceased as Sarah Rice, 39, and Greg A. Johnson, 42, according to local reports from Lehigh Valley Live, Lehigh Valley News, and WFMZ. Rice was a mother of four, and Johnson was her longtime partner and the father of three of her children.

Authorities say the pair were found dead in the basement of their home on Friday, Jan. 2. The couple shared three young children, ages 8, 4, and 2, according to a GoFundMe launched by Rice’s older sister, Janelle Rice, to support the children. Rice also has a 24-year-old daughter from a previous relationship and is survived by her mother and three sisters.

Though the couple was not legally married, they had been together for more than two decades, Lehigh Valley Live reported.

“We have lost a beloved mother, daughter, wife, and friend to a senseless act of violence,” Janelle Rice wrote in the fundraiser, describing her sister’s death as “a horrific act of harm.”

According to the Bethlehem Police Department, an adult called 911 after dropping off one of Rice’s children at home following a Friday evening playdate. Police said the child soon exited the house and informed the adult that “a serious issue had occurred inside the residence.”

Officers responding to the scene found two other children inside the home, along with an older adult who appeared unaware that gunshots had been fired in the basement. Authorities said the older adult is not considered a suspect.

Rice and Johnson were pronounced dead Friday night and were formally identified by the Lehigh County Coroner on Monday, Jan. 5, according to WFMZ.

In the days following the incident, neighbors and family members organized a vigil outside the family’s home to honor Rice’s life.

“She was very well loved,” neighbor Danielle Rau told Lehigh Valley Live. “Her whole life revolved around her children.”

Police said the couple’s three young children are now in the care of other family members. Investigators have not yet clarified the sequence of events or who fired the fatal shots.

“The Bethlehem Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division is continuing the investigation with assistance from the Lehigh Valley Homicide Task Force and the Lehigh Valley Coroner’s Office,” authorities said in a statement, adding that no further information will be released at this time.