The Montgomery Township community in New Jersey is mourning a devastating family tragedy after David Grodnick, 61, his wife Lora Grodnick, 62, and their daughter Sloane Grodnick, 24, were found dead inside their home on Wild Azalea Lane in Skillman. Authorities identified the three family members on October 6, following an investigation that began after police were asked to conduct a welfare check at the residence.
According to the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office, police received a request for a welfare check shortly before 3 p.m. on Thursday, October 1. Officers went to the home but were unable to make contact with anyone inside. Police returned the following day and entered the residence shortly before 6 p.m., where they discovered Lora and Sloane in separate bedrooms and David elsewhere inside the home.
Postmortem examinations determined that Lora and Sloane died from gunshot wounds and that their deaths were ruled homicides. David also died from a gunshot wound, and authorities ruled his death a suicide. Investigators have described the deaths as an isolated incident and said there is no threat to the public, although the investigation remains ongoing.
Lora, remembered as Lori by those close to her, was a wife and mother whose life was closely intertwined with her family. Her death alongside her daughter has left a painful void for relatives, friends and others who knew the family. The circumstances are especially difficult because the loss involved two generations of the same family in a single devastating event.
Sloane was only 24 and had already begun building a promising future. She graduated from the Hun School of Princeton and later earned a bachelor’s degree from the Savannah College of Art and Design in 2024. At the time of her death, she was pursuing a master’s degree at the Rhode Island School of Design, with reports indicating that she had been expected to complete the program in 2027.
David was a professional in the commercial title-insurance industry and had worked as a senior vice president and underwriting counsel for Land Services USA. His professional career included extensive work involving commercial real-estate transactions, and he had previously spent many years with First American Title.
For those grieving the Grodnick family, the tragedy is about more than the circumstances reported by investigators. It is the loss of a mother, a daughter and a father, each with relationships, hopes and memories that mattered deeply to the people around them. Friends and relatives are now left to remember the lives they shared with Lora, Sloane and David while trying to make sense of an extraordinary loss.
As the investigation continues, the family and those closest to them deserve compassion and privacy. Authorities have emphasized that there is no continuing danger to the public, while the circumstances surrounding the deaths remain under investigation. The Grodnick family’s story is ultimately one of profound loss, and the memories of Lora and Sloane—and of David—will remain with those who knew them.
