Nearly six years had passed since Brady Harmon last hugged his four children, but after a long custody battle, he believed the wait was finally coming to an end. Instead, the father received unimaginable news when police arrived at his home in Utah to tell him that all four children had been found dead more than 2,000 miles away in upstate New York.
The heartbreaking discovery has left an entire community searching for answers after six family members were found dead inside an apartment in Mechanicville, N.Y., in what authorities are investigating as a criminal case. Police have since indicated there is no evidence that anyone outside the family was involved, though investigators are still awaiting final autopsy and toxicology results before making any official conclusions.
According to Mechanicville Police, officers responded to a welfare check on Tuesday evening after neighbors reported they had not seen 64-year-old Amy Steadman for several days. When officers were unable to make contact, building management allowed them inside Steadman’s apartment in the John S. Moore Homes complex on Harris Avenue.
Inside, officers discovered six bodies.
The victims were later identified as Steadman; her daughter, Sarah Myers, 44; and Myers’ four children — Harper Harmon, 13, Hudson Harmon, 11, and 10-year-old twins Gavin and Gracelynn Harmon.
Authorities have said the family had apparently been dead for an extended period before they were discovered.
For Brady Harmon, the tragedy was almost impossible to comprehend.
“I went from I’m seeing my kids to I’ll never see my kids again,” Harmon told the Times Union after learning of the deaths. “Hope to hell. Things happen, but nothing like this.”
The devastating news came just days before Harmon had been scheduled to reunite with his children for the first time since 2019.
According to Harmon, a recent custody agreement reached in Utah would have allowed the children to spend two months with him beginning July 1. After years of legal disputes and limited communication, he believed he was finally going to rebuild his relationship with Harper, Hudson, Gavin and Gracelynn.
Instead, police officers arrived at his Utah home with news no parent ever expects to hear.
Harmon said investigators have shared few details with him about how his children died.
“They didn’t tell me,” he said when asked about the cause of death.
When asked who he believed might be responsible, Harmon admitted he simply does not know.
“I don’t know.”
Police have remained cautious throughout the investigation, repeatedly emphasizing that the case is still active and that official determinations must await forensic testing.
Authorities have confirmed, however, that based on the evidence collected so far, they do not believe anyone outside the apartment was involved.
Investigators have since recovered evidence inside the apartment that includes medications and a handwritten note, though officials have declined to publicly discuss the contents while the investigation continues.
One child also suffered fatal sharp-force injuries, while investigators believe poisoning may have played a role in the other deaths. Final causes and manners of death remain pending toxicology reports and review by the medical examiner.
The apartment where the bodies were discovered belonged to Steadman, while Myers and her four children reportedly lived in another unit elsewhere within the same housing complex.
The discovery stunned residents of the John S. Moore Homes community, where neighbors described the family as familiar faces.
Police sealed off both apartments as investigators spent days processing the scenes.
Residents watched quietly as crime scene investigators moved between the buildings, while yellow tape blocked sections of the neighborhood.
By Wednesday morning, an eerie silence had settled over the normally active apartment complex.
Children still waited for school buses nearby, but many adults gathered outside trying to make sense of the tragedy unfolding around them.
At one point, graduating students from Mechanicville High School reportedly stopped near Harris Avenue, knelt together and paid their respects after learning of the deaths.
Neighbors say they never imagined such violence could happen in their community.
“It’s so jarring,” resident Michelle West told local media. “I never in a million years thought something like this could happen right here.”
Another resident, Megan Reed, said she had lived in the apartment complex for more than a decade and had gotten to know both Steadman and Myers.
According to Reed, the grandmother spent nearly every day helping her daughter.
“She was with her every single day to help her,” Reed said.
She also described Myers as especially close with another neighbor in the complex.
“They were like best friends,” Reed said.
Like many others living nearby, Reed struggled to understand how such a close-knit family could end in such tragedy.
“Those kids don’t deserve this,” she said.
As investigators continued gathering evidence, questions also emerged regarding the family’s recent custody proceedings.
Harmon said he had spent years trying to remain involved in his children’s lives despite living in Utah.
According to him, Myers rarely allowed regular communication, limiting contact to occasional FaceTime calls.
He also claimed she had been the subject of Child Protective Services investigations in New York, though authorities have not publicly commented on those claims.
Court proceedings between the former couple had recently resulted in an agreement allowing Harmon to exercise extended parenting time beginning this summer.
Instead of preparing bedrooms for his children’s arrival, Harmon is now preparing to bury them.
“I want them as far away as possible from their mother,” he reportedly said through tears.
Neighbors were aware the custody dispute had been ongoing.
One resident told local media that Myers had recently sought financial help to travel to Utah for court proceedings connected to the case.
Those proceedings will now never happen.
The tragedy has also shaken local schools, despite reports that the children were not currently enrolled in Mechanicville’s public school district.
Mechanicville Central School District Superintendent G. Michael Apostol issued a statement saying counseling resources would be available for students and staff affected by the news.
“We will continue to monitor the situation and provide services as needed,” the superintendent said.
The emotional impact has extended far beyond the apartment complex itself.
Residents have placed flowers near the scene, while community members continue expressing disbelief that four young children lost their lives alongside their mother and grandmother.
Mechanicville Housing Authority officials have declined to comment publicly because of the ongoing criminal investigation.
Meanwhile, New York State Police continue assisting local investigators as forensic testing proceeds.
Authorities have stressed that establishing exactly what happened inside the apartment will require patience.
Police say investigators are carefully reviewing physical evidence, witness statements, medical findings and toxicology reports before announcing any final conclusions.
For now, many of the most significant questions remain unanswered.
How long had the family been dead before neighbors raised concerns?
What exactly happened inside the apartment?
And what circumstances transformed what should have been the beginning of a long-awaited family reunion into one of New York’s most devastating family tragedies this year?
Those answers are expected to come only after investigators complete what police have described as an exhaustive review of every piece of evidence.
Until then, Brady Harmon is left mourning the four children he had spent years fighting to see again.
The reunion he had counted down to for months will never happen.
Instead, the father says his focus has shifted to bringing Harper, Hudson, Gavin and Gracelynn home to Utah, where he hopes they can finally be laid to rest together, far from the apartment where their lives came to such a heartbreaking end.
