Emily Long, the New Hampshire mother who took her ailing husband and two of their young children’s lives before ending herself, had spent the final days of her life posting raw, heart-wrenching videos about her depression and fear of the future.
However, according to a family friend, it wasn’t just grief that pushed her to the edge, it was also money, shame, and hopelessness.
In one of her final TikToks, posted just two days before the incident, Emily gave her followers an inside look at her mental state:
“Today I decided I need to make a conscious effort to shift my mindset. I’m getting out of this depression whether I want to or not. I am determined to create normalcy,” she said, her words contrasting heavily with the truth behind the scenes.
A friend of Emily Long, the mother responsible for taking the lives of two of her children and her husband, revealed what pushed her over the edge
Image credits: Emily Long/Facebook
According to BP Daily, the 34-year-old fatally attacked her 48-year-old husband Ryan, and their two eldest children, Parker, 8, and Ryan Jr., 6, inside their $600,000 home in Madbury last Monday morning (August 18).
Their youngest, 3-year-old James, survived and was found wandering the house alone by police who arrived around 8:30. A firearm was recovered at the scene.
Image credits: CBS Boston
According to family friends, Emily felt that her life had spiraled out of control irreparably, and was slowly convincing herself that there was no other way out other than what she did.
Image credits: CBS Boston
“Ryan was bedridden. From what I gather he was undergoing chemotherapy. He was just weak and sick,” the source said.
That, coupled with her recently leaving her former job as the director of operations at Wing-Itz, a chicken wing chain, left the entire family in financial peril.
Image credits: CBS Boston
“She had left her job but was unhappy with her career, and they were obviously struggling with money and at risk of losing the house,” the family friend explained.
“Emily had a network of friends around her who knew what she was going through, and even so, we were still shocked and caught off guard.”
Emily’s impending widowhood, combined with the family’s dire financial situation, proved more than she could bear
Image credits: emilylong41
Emily had long documented the emotional weight of caring for her husband, but things truly started to break when she was informed that Ryan’s condition was incurable.
The mother soon had to come to terms with her husband’s inevitable passing, while at the same time trying to shield her children from the looming reality of the situation.
“I feel very, very lonely. I feel so anxious,” she said in a video posted two weeks before the crimes.
“I know that I need to see a therapist, I know that I need to ask for help… but I’m not ready to acknowledge that, I think.”
Image credits: emilylong41
She described feeling as if she were “withering away,” admitting the situation was only going to get worse.
Ryan, a school psychologist at Oyster River Middle School, had been diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive and terminal brain cancer. As his condition deteriorated, Emily became the family’s sole caretaker and provider.
She simply couldn’t stomach the thought.
Image credits: WMUR-TV
“I’m doing all the bedtimes and by the time I’m saying goodnight to my third kid, it hits me that this is going to be every single night at some point for the rest of my life,” she said.
“Where I’m doing all three bedtimes alone, and then I shut the door to the final kid. Then I’m totally by myself, and I have no one to talk about my day with.”
The family’s youngest, James, was spared for unknown reasons, and is now in the care of his maternal grandparents
Image credits: Emily Long/Facebook
At 5:30 am, Emily shot both of her eldest sons once each. Ryan was then shot multiple times. Then, she turned the firearm on herself. The couple’s toddler, James, was inexplicably spared.
“I don’t know why she spared him,” the family friend explained. “I can’t make sense of it.”
James is now in the care of Emily’s parents.
Assistant Attorney General Ben Agati said the case is still under investigation, with financial strain and impending widowhood being considered the most important factors.
In one particular post, Emily painted a heartbreaking picture of her mental state. For her, the lives of her family had already ended, and it was only a matter of accepting it.
“I’m mourning my husband, I’m mourning my marriage and it’s still there,” she wrote. “It’s very confusing and it’s very overwhelming.”
“All I want to do is hide under a blanket with my kids.”
“Cruel.” Netizens denounced Emily’s actions, regardless of what had driven her
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