On October 5, 2020, 31-year-old Laura Jean Else was shot dead at her home on Forest Inn Road in Aquashicola, Lower Towamensing Township, Pennsylvania. Her husband, 38-year-old Keith Robert Else, called emergency services; Laura was airlifted to St. Luke’s Hospital in Bethlehem but died of her injuries. The couple’s three children were in the house at the time, and their 8-year-old daughter later said she saw her father get a gun, approach her mother as if for a hug, and then shoot her in the chest.

Pennsylvania State Police investigators found inconsistencies in Keith Else’s account that the weapon accidentally discharged while he was attempting to hand it to his wife. He was arrested and charged with criminal homicide and recklessly endangering another person, and later pleaded guilty to third-degree murder. Court information described the relationship as abusive and controlling, and the children and Laura’s parents were left to cope with the loss.

Does anyone have information about Laura’s life in the Aquashicola area or about the family’s situation in the months before October 2020?