July 19, 2016
Philadelphia police believe two women who were found dead Sunday afternoon at a motel in Northeast Philadelphia likely died as a result of suicide.
At approximately 12:30 p.m., authorities said they arrived at the Roosevelt Motor Inn in Rhawnhurst to find two people with their hands bound behind their backs and plastic bags over their heads. The women, who were not identified, were apparently nurses from West Virginia and checked into the hotel on the 7600 block of Roosevelt Boulevard the night before they were found dead.
Investigators initially believed the incident was a double-homicide. On Monday night, Homicide Unit Capt. James Clark said that one of the women was found with an arm free, suggesting that she assisted in the suicide of the other woman, FOX29 reports. There were no signs of a struggle, and surveillance footage showed that no one else had entered the motel room.
Police said the women, both in their 30s, were in a relationship with one another and moved to Philadelphia a few weeks ago in search of work. They appear to have been on drugs Sunday and officially died of asphyxiation, according to officials.
Clark said this was the first instance he has seen of a suicide pact that involved both victims helping each other take their lives.
