Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office

25 Kirkpatrick Street, 3^rd Floor, New Brunswick, New Jersey, 08901 (732) 745-3300

*News Release* Date: December 16, 2011

Old Bridge children safe following apparent murder-suicide

Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce J. Kaplan and Chief William Volkert of the Old Bridge Police Department announced that police safely recovered two children this morning at a motel in upstate New York after their mother was killed in Old Bridge, and their father subsequently died at the motel, an apparent victim of suicide.

The children, a 5-year-old girl and a 20-month-old girl, emerged from the motel located in Fort Montgomery N.Y. at approximately 7:30 a.m. and were taken to a nearby hospital, where they were determined to be in good condition and unharmed.

The children have been placed temporarily in the custody of relatives.

A preliminary investigation by the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office and the Old Bridge Police Department has determined that the children were abducted by their father, Anthony Trapp (DOB 9/12/72) sometime in the late afternoon hours of December 15, 2011, when the children’s mother, Heather Trapp, 37, went to his home in Old Bridge to pick up the children after a visit with their father.

An investigation began when a relative of Ms. Trapp called Old Bridge Police at 8:55 p.m. on December 15, 2011, concerned about the safety of Ms. Trapp. Old Bridge police quickly arrived at Anthony Trapp’s home on Rose Street in the township and found Ms. Trapp dead in the kitchen.

Ms. Trapp was pronounced dead at 10:08 p.m. on December 15, 2011.

An autopsy by the Middlesex County Medical Examiner’s Office determined today that Ms. Trapp was the victim of a homicide and died from multiple stab wounds.

Following the discovery of the homicide, police issued an Amber Alert advising the public that the couple’s daughters had been abducted. The notification was cancelled after the children were safely recovered from the motel.

During the investigation, police had traced Anthony Trapp to the Bear Mountain Bridge Motel on Route 9W in Fort Montgomery, N.Y. and had surrounded the building when the children emerged.

Police subsequently went into the motel room and determined the father was dead.

The cause of death was not immediately determined. Authorities in New York are scheduled to perform an autopsy on December 17, 2011.

The on-going investigation has determined that the Trapps were married but were separated.

Prosecutor Kaplan credited members of the Old Bridge Police Department, the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office, the New York State Police and the FBI with a quick, unified response that resulted in the safe recovery of the children.

Anyone with information is urged to call Detective Mike Machen of the Old Bridge Police Department at (732) 721-5600, or Investigator Jeffrey Temple of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office at (732) 745-3300.