Utah Dad Was Days Away From a Court-Ordered Reunion With His Four Children Before Police Found Them Dead in a New York Apartment
An unimaginable loss.
Utah dad Brady Harmon was just days away from finally reuniting with his four children after years of legal battles when police delivered the devastating news that they had been found dead in a New York apartment. According to NBC News, the children – Harper, 13, Hudson, 11, and 10-year-old twins Gavin and Gracelynn – were discovered alongside their mother, Sarah Myers, 44, and their maternal grandmother, Amy Steadman, 64, in what authorities are calling a horrific crime.
Harmon had been counting down the hours until his court-ordered visitation began on Wednesday, June 22, 2026. Instead of picking up his kids, he got the call no parent should ever have to answer. Salt Lake City police informed him that his children had been found dead in Mechanicville, New York, on Tuesday.
The news left him reeling. “I don’t know what happened,” Harmon said in a phone interview. “I have speculations, but not to be able to see my kids – that’s the part that sucks the most.”
The grim discovery came after a neighbor requested a welfare check
The neighbour was concerned they hadn’t seen Steadman in days. When police entered the apartment, they found six bodies in what Mechanicville Police Chief William Rabbitt described as a scene of unimaginable tragedy. Steadman lived in the apartment, while Myers and the children resided in a separate unit within the same building.
Rabbitt confirmed that one of the children suffered fatal sharp-force injuries, and evidence pointed to intentional poisoning, including a mix of prescription and over-the-counter medications. The exact causes of death are still pending toxicology reports and further investigation.
According to NBC News, a handwritten note found at the scene strongly suggests Steadman was involved in the deaths, though Rabbitt declined to share its contents. Harmon said he only learned of her suspected role by watching the news conference.
“I have no idea why they could think it would be her,” he said. “The handwritten note, that’s one thing, but she had nothing to lose or gain by my kids coming out here.” The idea that a grandmother could be responsible for such violence is almost impossible to process, but authorities say there’s no evidence of an outside suspect.
The court battle between the parents began in 2019
For Harmon, the loss is compounded by the years of struggle he endured just to see his children. Court documents show he and Myers separated in November 2019 and finalized their divorce the following year.
After the split, Myers moved to New York with the kids and her mother, taking them far from Harmon’s life in Utah. The custody agreement granted him visitation from July through September, along with regular FaceTime calls, but he said Myers consistently blocked both. The last time he saw his children in person was in 2019.
“There was always something that came up – she would find a way out of it,” Harmon lamented. “Eventually, I had to get a different lawyer just to enforce the parenting plan.” Even the FaceTime calls were tightly controlled.
He was only allowed about 15 minutes with all four kids at once, with Myers present the entire time. Still, he cherished those brief moments – Gavin showing off his latest builds, Gracelynn and Harper sharing drawings they’d made for him. Small, ordinary things that now feel like priceless memories.
In recent months, Harmon thought things were finally improving
Myers had seemed more cooperative about following the parenting plan, and they were scheduled to appear in Utah court on Monday to discuss the agreement before his visitation began. “This is not something anyone could prepare for,” he said. The idea that his children’s lives were cut short just as he was about to see them again is almost too much to bear.
The children were homeschooled and not enrolled in public school, which meant they had fewer outside connections that might have raised alarms sooner. Rabbitt said the family had likely been dead for “an extended period of time” before the neighbor’s call prompted the welfare check. The conditions of the bodies made initial identification difficult, and autopsies were needed to confirm who they were.
Harmon’s grief is raw, but so is his frustration. The system that was supposed to protect his children failed them in the worst way possible. He fought for years just to have a relationship with them, only to have it ripped away in an instant. The note found at the scene may offer some answers, but it won’t bring his kids back. For now, all he has are the memories of those fleeting FaceTime calls and the heartbreaking knowledge that he was so close to seeing them again.
(Featured image: Andrew Neel on Pexels)
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