SPANAWAY — The Pierce County medical examiner says a Spanaway, Washington, mother of four young children found dead in her home this week killed herself.
The medical examiner’s office said Thursday that Jennifer Reichardt, 28, died of asphyxiation after her airways were blocked by a plastic bag.
Sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer says while detectives still have more work to do, many details of the death that they have confirmed lead them to also conclude it was a suicide. The News Tribune reports that Troyer cited a note, a text from Reichardt to a friend and her past Internet usage and searches.
Troyer says investigators are still “following up” on the woman’s estranged husband but have been able to verify he was not in the area at the time she died.
Court papers show a neighbor requested a welfare check Tuesday morning, growing worried after receiving a text message from Reichardt’s phone that said if Reichardt didn’t come to the neighbor’s house in 10 minutes to call 911.
The four children were found unharmed inside the home.
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