"Grisly" Multi-State Murder/Suicide

"WELLSBURG, WV — A suspect in a grisly Brooke County double murder investigation took his own life in a Pennsylvania house Thursday morning.

"Wellsburg Police received a call from a frantic mother who found her daughter and grandson dead at their home on 2103 Maple Avenue in Wellsburg Wednesday morning.

"`Myself and another officer got there and found two bodies covered with blankets and blood on the floor,` said Sgt. Lester Skinner with the Wellsburg Police Department. `One body was in a bedroom and another body about six feet from the bedroom in a hallway.`

"The victims are identified as Melinda Nicole Brown-Allen and her eight-year old son Ethan James Michael Brown.

"`We don't believe a gun was used,` said Skinner. `We believe it was a large heavy bladed weapon.`

"Soon, police discovered the man of the house, 38-year old Abraham Allen, was considered a person of interest. Police put out a nationwide bulletin on his car which was missing and police in Harrisburg, PA found the car Thursday morning. Soon he was considered a suspect and a murder warrant was issued--the warrant prompted a search of the Pennsylvania home where he was found to have hanged himself.

"`There was no note found and no cause of anything earlier in the day,` said Skinner. `It was not a house that we were called to frequently for domestics.`

"Skinner says at this point they have no idea what could have prompted such an action. Although the mother and stepson were killed, the Allen's two-year-old child was in the home and unhurt."

From MetroNews...