by A Pennsylvania family found shot dead in their backyard last week in what police say appears to be a suicide pact, including a mother and daughter who loved bowling and were devout Christian conservatives, people who knew them said.
Morgan Daub, 26, and her parents, James Daub, 62, and Deborah Daub, 59, were found dead on the ground in the backyard of their York County, Pennsylvania home on the morning of January 25 after police responded to a request on welfare from a neighbor.
West Manchester Township Police Department has since said notes left at the home suggest the family recently made a “joint decision” to end their lives. Police believe Deborah Daub shot her husband and then was shot by Morgan, who died by suicide. Police said there was no sign of a forced entry or struggle and no evidence anyone else was present.
An investigation into the deaths has been dropped.
People who knew the family expressed shock and heartache at the deaths. Morgan was described by members of the local bowling community as a shy, quiet young woman who was close to her mother and was also a talented and enthusiastic bowler until a few years ago she and her mother suddenly stopped frequenting bowling shops and alleys in the area . around the start of the pandemic.
“Morgan didn’t have many words to say,” said Bret Stabley, who runs the pro shop at Bowlers Supply in York, Pennsylvania, where the mother and daughter were longtime customers. Stabley said he believes Morgan, who he described as “very gentle and quiet” but also “very smart,” was homeschooled and her mother often spoke for her.
Stabley said he had given Morgan many bowling lessons over the years and that she had become more sociable as she got older. She’s also “a pretty good bowler,” he said.
Stabley said the Christian church family had “never been shy about letting anyone know what their faith was” when it came to religion and politics. Morgan and Deborah are “very, very big” supporters of former President Donald Trump, Stabley said.
“They were just so hellbent on winning Trump, so this might end up being if he doesn’t,” Stabley said, referring to a case he saw her just ahead of the 2020 election. He said he didn’t see the two after that.
A neighbor, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of personal or professional retaliation in his town, said the family had “become involved with religion, particularly on the father’s side.” The family’s front yard was also “littered” with pro-Trump political signs and anti-abortion signs during the election, when Roe v. Wade was knocked over, the neighbor said.
Terry Miller, the owner of Suburban Bowlerama, said Morgan and Deborah came to his bowling center a few times a week. “She grew up here,” he said of Morgan.
“To me, they just enjoyed just watching their interactions, they seemed to be spending a lot of time together,” he said.
But Morgan and Deborah suddenly stopped coming around around 2019, Miller said.
Looking back, he said it was “definitely, definitely weird” that the two stopped coming in.
Stabily said he was concerned after seeing recent videos showing Morgan on YouTube. In the videos, which West Manchester Township Police Department said appear to show Morgan, the young woman deliberately speaks about God, the Antichrist and conspiracies about Trump and the 2020 election. Stabley said he will haunted by Morgan’s laughter in the videos.
“I’ve never, ever seen Morgan in that condition,” he said.
Detective Timothy Fink said in a statement to NBC News on Friday that Deborah Daub left a written document signed Jan. 19 in which “she speaks of a joint decision” by her and Morgan to end their lives. It references the “evil that has risen against Morgan” but doesn’t go into any further detail, Fink said.
Morgan and her father also left notes showing the family planned for the shootings to be carried out and made other preparations, including how to handle the family dog ​​and the estate.
Those notes were dated January 24, the day before the family’s bodies were found.
Police said the positioning of the bodies, the two guns found at the scene, the shell casings and other evidence “support the account of the written documents left by the family” that “all three family members decided to end their lives on 1/24.” 2023.”
Meanwhile, the neighbor said they were “shocked and in disbelief” that something like this could happen “so close to their home.”
“When I personally interacted with them, they kept it under wraps,” the neighbor said. “I didn’t see that break through the surface at all.”
If you or someone you know is in crisis, call 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call the network formerly known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255text HOME to 741741 or visit us SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional resources.
