The New Hampshire woman who shot and killed her terminally-ill husband and two of her children before turning the gun on herself had been accused just days before the killings of stealing thousands of dollars from her employer.
Emily Long, 34, who worked as director of operations for Wing-Itz, reportedly stole about $600,000 from the company, according to her employer Derek Fisher.
Business owner Fisher filed a complaint with the Hampton police department on August 11. He said money began disappearing from the business in 2023, well before Long’s husband’s cancer diagnosis.
On August 18, Long carried out the tragic murder-suicide at the family’s home in Madbury, according to the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office.
It is unclear whether the alleged theft played any role in the deaths of Ryan Long, 48, and the couple’s children, Parker, 8, and Ryan, 6.
“I’m still kind of in shock,” Fisher told WMUR. “I don’t really believe that this sort of thing could have happened or she was capable of doing something like that.”
The alleged theft was discovered in June when Fisher said he and his bookkeeper uncovered a series of checks written directly to Long. When asked to explain, she offered no answers.
When he requested three months of bank statements, the bank told him the documents appeared manipulated and missing pages.
“There’s really no answer as far as I know. I don’t have any answers as far as where the money went, what she needed it for, what she spent it on,” Fisher said.
“But I do know that something was wrong. She did do what we’re suspecting her of doing because she’s the only one who had access to any of this money.”
Fisher said he has no plans to pursue legal action to recover the funds.
Investigators said Emily Long used a handgun from the family’s home to kill her husband, who was battling an aggressive form of brain cancer, and two of their three children turning the gun on herself. Their youngest child, age 3, was found alive and physically unharmed.
Autopsies revealed that Ryan Long died from multiple gunshot wounds. Both children were killed by single gunshot wounds to the head. Emily Long also died from a gunshot wound to the head, officials said.
The state attorney general’s office said the case remains complex.
“I think the big thing is to try not to speculate that any one reason something like this happens. Homicide and suicide is usually much, much more complex than just one reason,” Assistant Attorney General Ben Agati said.
Fisher said he remains devastated by the deaths.
“I don’t want to make this about me. It’s about this little boy who has no family anymore. And that is this story right here,” he said.
In the weeks before the shooting, Emily Long had shared videos on TikTok, where she had more than 170,000 followers.
Speaking candidly about her life as a “Brain Cancer Wife,” she described feeling “lonely” and “anxious” and admitted she knew she needed help.
“I feel very, very lonely. I feel so anxious,” she said in one clip, according to the Daily Mail. “I know that I need to see a therapist, I know that I need to ask for help.”
If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call or text 988 or visit 988lifeline.org to access online chat from the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. This is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you are in another country, you can go to www.befrienders.org to find a helpline near you.
