Never doubt a mother’s intuition.
A mother-of-two “had a gut-wrenching feeling” something terrible was going to happen when she asked police twice to check on her children — and she was unfortunately correct.
Mary Nielsen was crushed to learn that her 5-year-old daughter Emily and 3-year-old son Theodore were dead in their beds during a week-long, court-ordered visit with their father, Adam Price, in his Nebraska home over the weekend.
The children were supposed to check in with Mary every day using FaceTime. She spoke to them for the last time on Thursday night, when “everything seemed okay,” she later told the Lincoln Journal Star. But when Mary didn’t hear from her kids all day Friday, she knew in her gut something was wrong.
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She called Bellevue Police Department on Saturday, prompting officers to visit her estranged husband’s home just before 10 p.m. that night. There was no answer, so officials left the home before returning around 9 a.m. the next morning. Yet again, police got no answer. Captain Andy Jashinske said in a statement:
“Officers investigated during both calls for service did not observe exigent circumstances that would allow them to force entry into the home.”
But things still weren’t “sitting right” with Mary, as she later explained to The Daily Beast:
“I had a bad feeling in my stomach.”
So she asked a friend to check on the kids. One hour after the police left, the friend found the door unlocked, and walked in to find the two children dead in their beds.
Authorities tracked the father to Pacifica, California, a 25-hour drive away from his house. He was arrested and extradited back to Nebraska, where he was later charged with two counts of felony child abuse resulting in death.
Police have not revealed a cause of death for Theodore and Emily, but said it was “suspicious.” Nielsen said just as much about her estranged husband’s behavior, telling the outlet:
“Our old neighbor actually saw Adam packing up all his stuff Thursday night. It was kind of suspicious because he said he was going for a long weekend. The police said most of his clothes were gone. He took his personal computer but he had left his cell phone at the house.”
The tragic deaths came as Mary and Adam were locked in a nasty custody battle. The family had lived in Bellevue, but Nielsen took the kids and moved back to Illinois — where the family is originally from — in November.
Explaining how Price had been “abusive, controlling, and manipulative” toward her during their relationship, Mary told the outlet:
“We were fighting for custody in court. I’ve spent every penny I have to try and get custody of my babies full time… The only thing that people need to know about him is that he’s a f**king monster.”
We think anyone who reads this story will agree.
The mother told the outlet her children were “happy, sweet, loving.” She said her daughter was “extremely smart” while her son was “the typical little boy — jumping off things, playing with superheroes, fake fighting.” She said goodbye to the pair in a heartbreaking Facebook post, writing:
“I’m so sorry to see you two go. You did not deserve this and I love you so very much. I would fight a thousand fights to have you back again. Heaven gained two beautiful angels and I hope great grandpa was at the gates to greet you. You were the only reasons I survived everything I did and the only reason I am alive. I love you. Til we meet again my sweet babies.”
A GoFundMe page was set up to help the grieving mother with funeral expenses. As of this writing, it has raised over $34,000. Our hearts go out to Mary at this tragic time.
[Image via Bellevue Police/GoFundMe]
The post After Mom Asks Police To Check On Her Children, A Friend Discovers They Were Dead appeared first on Perez Hilton.
