Indian-origin IT couple, twins found dead in California home. What happened?

An Indian-origin family from Kerala has been found dead at their home in California with the police investigating the case as a murder-suicide, The family has been identified as Anand Sujith Henry, 42, his wife Alice Priyanka, 40, and their four-year-old twin children Noah and Neithan. The police discovered the bodies after one of the family’s relatives sought a welfare check as no one in the house was answering the call. Let’s take a closer look. ‘Cause of death under investigation’ In a statement, the San Mateo Police Department said the Indian-American couple, Anand and Alice were found dead with gunshot wounds inside a bathroom. A nine-millimetre pistol and a loaded magazine were also found in the bathroom, according to News18. The police said the two children were discovered deceased inside a bedroom and their cause of death is still under investigation. Sources with direct knowledge of the investigation said police believe the boys were smothered, strangled, or given a lethal overdose because there was no sign of trauma on their bodies.

SMPD is conducting a death investigation on the 4100 block of Alameda de las Pulgas. Traffic is currently closed N/B Alameda de las Pulgas at 42nd Av, S/B Alameda de las Pulgas at Fernwood St, and W/B 41st Ave to Kelton Ct. Please avoid the area. https://t.co/ln5YNk2pRX pic.twitter.com/Gr9xlXhYP9

— San Mateo Police Department (@SanMateoPD) February 12, 2024

San Mateo Police Department representative Jerami Surratt told on Facebook that they received a call seeking a welfare check on the family. “San Mateo Police officers were dispatched to the 4100 block of Alameda de las Pulgas on the report of a welfare check. After arriving officers were met with no response, they searched the perimeter of the home and did not see any signs of forced entry into the house. Finding an unlocked window, officers entered the home and located the four people dead,” police said. There was no suicide note found at the scene. ‘An isolated incident’ Police preliminary analysis points to a potential murder-suicide scenario, but they haven’t ruled out alternative options. “Based on the information we have at this time, this appears to be an isolated incident with no danger to the public as we are confident the person responsible was located within the home,” the police said in a statement. Since taking up the investigation, the San Mateo County Crime Lab and the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) have collaborated to gather evidence. The San Mateo County Coroner has taken custody of the bodies and is currently in the process of positively identifying each person and notifying their next of kin. According to media reports, the family’s relatives in India have received consular assistance from the Indian mission in the nation. About the couple The family, originally from Kerala’s Kollam, had been living in the United States for the past nine years, as per Hindustan Times. Anand, a senior analyst, and Alice, a former manager of software engineering at Meta and Google, were both in the IT field. The pair was well-liked by coworkers and neighbours alike, and they were described as kind, hardworking, and loving parents, according to NDTV. Alice and Anand were both TKM Engineering College alums. The New Indian Express claims that Alice graduated with a degree in civil engineering, while Anand graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering. Anand’s LinkedIn profile says he also attended Carnegie Mellon University and Singapore Management University. According to his bio, he founded his own artificial intelligence company, Logits, after leaving his position at Meta in June last year. In the IT industry, Logits has drawn notice for its expertise in giving businesses the ability to privately train and use Generative AI models for particular business requirements. Anand was formerly employed at Google, Salesforce, and CMU. According to Hindustan Times report, he was the son of Henry George, the former principal of Kollam Fathima Mata National College. Anand filed for divorce in December 2016, years before their twins were born, according to court documents, but the divorce was not finalised. Similar incidents The latest incident is disturbingly similar to one that happened recently in Massachusetts, when a wealthy Indian-origin couple and their daughter were discovered dead at home. On 28 December last year, Rakesh Kamal , 57, his wife Teena, 54, and their 18-year-old daughter Arianna, who was attending college, were discovered dead in their $5 million mansion in Dover. A gun was also found close to Rakesh. An autopsy determined that the murders were a murder-suicide by medical authorities. In the US, at least seven people of Indian descent have been found deceased in the recent months. On 10 February, a 41-year-old Indian-origin IT executive died after suffering life-threatening injuries during an assault outside a restaurant in Washington. Student Sameer Kamath from Purdue University was found dead in Warren County last week. Neel Acharya  who had been missing in the US was confirmed dead by the same university authorities last month. The most horrific death was that of  Vivek Saini . A resident of Haryana, he died after he was hammered 50 times in Georgia’s Lithonia on 16 January. Last year saw the most number of murder-suicides in the community, among the most successful diasporas in the US, according to a report in The Times of India. With inputs from agencies