Mother and Two Kids Dead After She Intentionally Went Over Niagara Falls

A mother and her two children are presumed dead after she intentionally went over Niagara Falls on Luna Island, police said on Wednesday.

Chaianti Means, 33, her 9-year-old, Roman Rossman, and her 5-month-old baby, Mecca Means, crossed over a safety guild rail and went over Niagara Falls, according to a press release from New York State Police.

“They are presumed deceased, and recovery efforts are in motion with New York State Park Police in New York State police, utilizing resources at Niagara Falls location and lower river for body recovery,” State Trooper James O’Callaghan told Newsweek via email Wednesday afternoon.

State troopers and the New York State Park Police responded to the incident on Monday at around 9:00 p.m. ET.

“The investigation has determined that this incident was intentional in nature, though the circumstances remain under investigation,” state police said in their press release.

Search and rescue efforts, which include unmanned aircraft systems and an underwater recovery unit, have been unsuccessful so far, according to police.

Luna Island is a small island between the American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls that, along with the Horseshoe Falls, compose the tourist attraction. The deceased family is from Niagara Falls, New York.

Long Island Murder-Suicide

Downstate in Syosset, New York, Joseph DeLucia, Jr., 59, shot four of his family members and later himself in an apparent murder-suicide in August.

Police responded to DeLucia’s home after getting reports of shots fired and found DeLucia’s siblings Joann Kearns, 69, Frank DeLucia, 71 and Tina Hammond, 64, as well as his niece Victoria Hammond, 30, fatally shot in the rear den of the DeLucia’s recently deceased mother’s house.

Police determined that DeLucia, who lived with his 95-year-old mother—Theresa Martha DeLucia, before she passed days before the incident—thought he would not get his inheritance.

“The perception of Joseph Jr. was he was being cut out of the will and was going to be displaced without a place to go,” Nassau County Police Department Detective Captain Stephen Fitzpatrick said at a press conference.

Fitzpatrick added: “He had past mental issues, psych issues, that were reported to us. Because of that perception, he decided that day to get a loaded, Mossberg shotgun, 12 gauge, approached them in the rear area of the house, and from the kitchen, fired 12 shots, striking all four of them multiple times.”

How Common Are Suicide Deaths?

Suicide is one of the leading causes of death in the United States.

In 2022, more than 49,000 people died by suicide, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). That is 1 death every 11 minutes.

The CDC says that 13.2 million adults had seriously thought about suicide, 3.8 million made a plan for suicide, and 1.6 million attempted suicide.

Suicide rates have been on an upward trend for over two decades, with a dip in the late 2010s. Suicide rates increased 37 percent between 2000 and 2018, decreased 5 percent from 2018 to 2020 and then returned to their peak in 2022, according to the CDC.

If you are someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline is available by calling or texting 988.