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, girls aged 5 years and 20 months, 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.

Relatives of their mother are currently en route to the hospital.

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.

Later in the evening, a relative called police, concerned about the safety of Ms. Trapp. Old Bridge police quickly arrived at Anthony Trapp’s home to find Ms. Trapp was dead, the apparent victim of a homicide.

An Amber Alert was quickly issued advising the public that the couple’s daughters may have 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 motel and were outside when the children emerged. Police subsequently went into the room and determined he was dead.

The immediate causes of death are awaiting the results of autopsies, which are scheduled to be performed later today.

The investigation is active in Middlesex County and in New York, and details will be provided in a news release later today.

Anyone with information is urged to call Detective Mike Machen of the Old Bridge Police Department at (732) 947-7276, or Investigator Jeffrey Temple of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office at (732) 586-2449.