WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) – A Massachusetts woman wanted in connection with the death of her police officer husband was found dead near a hospital Monday during an intensive law enforcement search that included drones, boats and tracking dogs, authorities said.
Karen Solomon, an advocate who called for improvements and greater awareness of police mental health problems, had disappeared after Kurt Solomon, who served 31 years with Worcester police, was found dead at their home Tuesday morning. Officials had named Karen Solomon a suspect.
“We believe this case is a tragic murder-suicide that occurred,” Worcester Police Chief Paul Saucier said at a news conference Monday.
Two people who worked at Fairlawn Rehabilitation Hospital reported finding human remains, and officers recovered a woman’s corpse there, Saucier said.
A final ID was still pending, but authorities said they were confident it was Karen Solomon. A handgun recovered at the scene was not a Worcester police service weapon, and investigators were working to determine who owned it.
On Aug. 19, authorities released doorbell camera footage of Karen Solomon walking down a street in a T-shirt, shorts and flip-flops just minutes after officers responded to the couple’s home and found her husband’s body.
The search centered on the area near her Worcester home and a reservoir about a mile (1.6 kilometers) away. Police had said she was believed to be armed.
Karen Solomon, 58, started a group that advocates for the mental health of police officers and wrote two books about the physical and psychological experiences of first responders.
Worcester County District Attorney Joseph Early Jr. said Karen Solomon had been at the house early Tuesday and investigators wanted to talk to her about what happened. Police handed out flyers with her photo to drivers in the area Wednesday morning.
Local, state and federal agencies were involved in the search.
Karen Solomon is a co-founder of an organization called First H.E.L.P., the organization said in a statement last week.
The group “is dedicated to honoring the service of first responders who have died by suicide, supporting their families, reducing the stigma associated with seeking mental-health assistance, and increasing awareness of mental-health challenges within the law-enforcement and first-responder communities,” it said.
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