PA - Conner, 8, & Brinley Snyder, 4, found hung, later died, Kempton, 23 Sept 2019 *Arrest*

[AgeofAquaruis]

Dispatch communication. Not the 911 call from mom.

Berks County Children 911 Call

WOW.

 

[annemc2]

From the dispatch recording it sounds like mom had reported that the older child had been expressing suicidal ideation but did not want to "go alone." Lordy. I'm not buying it.

 

[Dee Deforest]

Another story that just dosen't seem on the level?

 

[SuziQ]

The original article said she was in a catatonic state. Is this what is still being reported?

It was a different case. A lot of people discussing the cases on the net are getting them confused. It is disturbing to have similar cases that can be confused. There have been too many lately.

2 children found dead in Temple home were there for days, police say

Two other children were found alive and are in CPS custody. A woman was taken to the hospital in a catatonic state.

 

[grillzgirl]

We know paramedics cut the kids down when they got there. We also know the chairs were laying on the floor. That means she not only didn't try to cut them down but she also did not even put the chairs back under their feet. They were three feet apart from each other. She could maybe have kind of stood them back up and wrapped her arms around them to take the weights off their necks. The more I read and think, the more angry I become.

This is the sticking point for me and what I keep circling back to in my mind. I would have immediately tried to prop them up with the chair or cut them down. Was she actually on the phone with 911 while they just hung there? (thinking out loud here).

This case is so disturbing.

 

[squareandrabbet]

IMO mom talking about bullying, etc. on the 911 call instead of dealing with the situation at hand, like I don’t know, trying to CUT HER CHILDREN DOWN raises giant red flags. How many times have we seen where the caller gave a bunch of extraneous information (reasons, excuses, background) to 911 those cases all ended up taking a same specific turn?

I agree it's vastly more usual to find grieving family members trying desperately to resuscitate clearly deceased people against all likely odds, than it is to find a grieving family member who will leave their family member hanging in midair.

 

[LadyL]

how does an 8 year-old even know what suicide is? unless his bullies also taught him that
I'm afraid for what he was learning through x-box and at school

 

[1&2&3]

Someone mentioned it above ^^^^. How did the chairs get kicked out of the way??

Having a four year old grandson, he would know danger play even from his favorite cousin who lives nearby. My belief is the little girl would not have willingly gone along with her brother’s idea.

Secondly, it would have been difficult for brother to tie her up first. It would have scared her while she waited on him to tie himself up and she would have been crying.

Finally, I do not think the four year old had the strength to kick the chair away from her. Think of how scared she must of been. Plus she had been standing there tied up while brother tied himself up, so her fear had really built up.

Options to this scenario are the brother kicked the chair out of her way after tying her up and before he tied himself up. No, I don’t think so. Would brother have the nerve to go through with such a plan, if he had moved the chair from under the Sister? Don’t think so. After all, this is an eight year old.

Nothing of this story makes sense! LE could verify with the older son and neighbors if there was actually a dog. To be getting rid of toys so soon, points a big red flag to us, so what does LE see?

I hope LE noticed what type of knots were in the wire lead.
An eight year old would probably not know many types unless he was a Boy Scout.

 

[TristanP]

I know I read it in the first article I read and posted but it looks like that article has now gone poof. I'm still looking.

You’re thinking of a different case - one where there were two children dead and the catatonic mom and I think it was likely the mom had killed those kids. I remember commenting on that thread.

 

[TristanP]

how does an 8 year-old even know what suicide is? unless his bullies also taught him that
I'm afraid for what he was learning through x-box and at school

You’d be shocked what kids that age know. Especially when they’re on an Xbox with internet access and no supervision.

 

[TristanP]

So true! The talk about bullying would be something you'd tell LE after the fact, not the 911 operator.

Alibi building. I think we’ll eventually find out these kids were manually strangled and the “hanging” was to cover it up.

 

[mjp1228]

More bad behavior is selling kids' toys shortly after their deaths.

Ummm - what??? I could see donating them, but profiting from your dead children’s toys? That’s beyond my comprehension.

 

[Savemecastiel]

Unbelievable..... reading this absolutely killed me inside...

 

[MsFacetious]

Wonder what mom was doing between finding the kids at 4:15 and paramedics arriving at 4:30. She did not try to cut them down. That's huge IMO.

I don't understand.
Even Adam Shacknai cut Rebecca Zahau down.

I don't understand how you let the kids hang even a second longer than they have to.
I'm going to be sick.

 

[claudianunes]

I don't understand.
Even Adam Shacknai cut Rebecca Zahau down.

I don't understand how you let the kids hang even a second longer than they have to.
I'm going to be sick.

To be honest, I don't believe Rebecca was ever hung. He probably pretended he cut her down.
Now, I don't get why this mom wouldn't cut these babies down. I can't say how I would react, but sitting there on the phone looking at two children hung wouldn't probably be it.

 

[SugarQueen]

I don’t think bullies or xbox had anything to do with this.

 

[Deleted member 278]

Someone mentioned it above ^^^^. How did the chairs get kicked out of the way??

Having a four year old grandson, he would know danger play even from his favorite cousin who lives nearby. My belief is the little girl would not have willingly gone along with her brother’s idea.

Secondly, it would have been difficult for brother to tie her up first. It would have scared her while she waited on him to tie himself up and she would have been crying.

Finally, I do not think the four year old had the strength to kick the chair away from her. Think of how scared she must of been. Plus she had been standing there tied up while brother tied himself up, so her fear had really built up.

Options to this scenario are the brother kicked the chair out of her way after tying her up and before he tied himself up. No, I don’t think so. Would brother have the nerve to go through with such a plan, if he had moved the chair from under the Sister? Don’t think so. After all, this is an eight year old.

Nothing of this story makes sense! LE could verify with the older son and neighbors if there was actually a dog. To be getting rid of toys so soon, points a big red flag to us, so what does LE see?

I hope LE noticed what type of knots were in the wire lead.
An eight year old would probably not know many types unless he was a Boy Scout.

No knots. Both ends had a swivel hook.

"...hanging approximately 3 feet apart from a plastic coated single wire cable with ends containing swivel eye snap hooks."

Search warrants served | Northwestern Press

 

[Deleted member 278]

Alibi building. I think we’ll eventually find out these kids were manually strangled and the “hanging” was to cover it up.

I don't think so. They were revived on the way to hospital so they could not have been hanging for very long.

 

[Deleted member 278]

Regarding cutting the kids down. It might have been a plastic coated wire lead, but there were swivel hooks at each end so it's not like mom would have to find something to cut it and have trouble cutting through it. All that would have been needed would be to lift each child up - maybe by putting one of the chairs under them to help - and opening the clasp.

I'm angry. Very very angry.

 

[Deleted member 278]

A good time line.

Mom blames bullying after hanged children die, but police still want their dog: Latest on tragic Pa. case

Sept. 23: A 4-year-old girl and an 8-year-old boy were found unconscious in an Albany Township, Berks County, home around 4:30 p.m., according to state police. The children were flown to Lehigh Valley Hospital. They lived in the home with their mother and an older sibling, 17.

Sept. 26: The children, Conner Snyder, 8, and Brinley Snyder, 4, died. Days later, autopsy results were called inconclusive, and the Lehigh County coroner’s office said more forensic testing is needed to determine the cause and manner of their deaths.

Oct. 5: The children’s family had received services from Children and Youth Services, according to a child advocate. The Department of Human Services did not explain what services exactly were provided. Their deaths will be studied by panels charged with reviewing cases of child deaths or near deaths, the Reading Eagle reported.

Oct. 7: State police release more information about the children’s deaths. Their mother reported finding her children Sept. 23 in the basement of their Berks County home, hanging from rafters by a cord sometimes reported to be a dog leash near overturned chairs.

Oct. 8: Investigators are looking for clues in a video game console and other electronics, and they are hoping to find a dog that used to belong to the children’s mother, the (Allentown) Morning Call reports. The dog, they say, was given away. “Determining the dog’s actual weight and size utilizing a scale will assist in the criminal investigation,” a warrant states.

Oct. 10: Police have served five warrants on the home, according to the Morning Call, during which they recovered the mother’s three cell phones. The dog still has not been found.

Oct. 12: Loved ones recognized Conner Snyder’s 9th birthday with a gathering and balloon release, the Morning Call reported. The children were organ donors, the paper said.

Oct. 16: The boy’s school is mourning his loss, the Reading Eagle reports. Kutztown School District Superintendent Christian Temchatin told the paper that “Conner was a beloved member of the Greenwich Elementary School family who enjoyed his peers and teachers. He is dearly missed and is fondly remembered for the smile he brought to all who knew him.”

Oct. 16: Details from the mother’s 911 call are released. Lisa Snyder told a dispatcher that her 8-year-old son was bullied and had “made threats of doing this, but didn’t want to go alone.” The mother of the children said this week, “At this point, I am not ready to make any public comments.” After her children died on Sept. 26, she changed her Facebook profile with a photo and the saying, “Words scar, rumors destroy, bullies kill.”