Mother of three killed in home with daughters nearby, dad found dead in river; cops investigate as murder-suicide: Reports

Authorities in New Jersey are investigating an apparent murder-suicide after a woman was found dead in her home and her husband’s body floated to the surface of an area river.

According to Fox News 48-year-old Denise Bartone is a mother of three whose remains were found on Monday inside of the family’s home in Freehold Township.

The three daughters she had with husband Kenneth Bartone, 53, were reportedly at home at the time of their mother’s homicide.

Local authorities and Monmouth County prosecutors said a truck registered to Kenneth Bartone was reported parked near the Raritan River on Monday afternoon. Police said the local community was never in any danger during the incident and investigation.

Investigators arrived at the Thomas Edison Memorial Bridge in Woodbridge and located the body, which officials declared “dead of an apparent suicide.”

While police statements did not specifically allege that he was responsible for his wife’s death, they did confirm the case was being treated as a potential murder-suicide. Investigators believe he jumped from the bridge to his death in the frigid water below.

Christopher Swendeman of the prosecutor’s office indicated authorities did not find a suicide note at the scene of Kenneth Bartone’s death.

The female victim was described as a marketing specialist employed by Rutgers University. She reportedly also served as the chair of the Freehold Township Education Foundation.

The superintendent of Freehold Township Schools sent a letter to district parents in the wake of the incident, as reported by the Asbury Park Press.

“My thoughts and prayers are with the Bartone girls and their extended family,” Neal Dickstein wrote. “Freehold Township is an amazing community, and I know that we will join together to support this family however possible.”

Detectives reported that the three children present during their mother’s homicide were not physically injured.

[Featured image: Kenneth Bartone and Denise Bartone, Facebook]