A Pennsylvania father who killed his two young children before dying by suicide had been experiencing depression after losing his job three months prior, according to a now-deleted social media post from his wife. She described him as a "wonderful dad" and stated that his first mental health appointment was scheduled for the day after the incident.
Patrick Lynch, 42, his son James, 8, and daughter Caroline, 6, were discovered deceased at the base of a five-story parking garage in Mt. Lebanon, a suburb of Pittsburgh, on Tuesday afternoon. Authorities have characterized the event as "not an accident."
According to a screenshot of the social media post shared by the Daily Voice, Anna Lynch attributed her husband's actions to a "spiraling mental state." She wrote that he was laid off in August and subsequently became depressed. She also noted that he had agreed to seek therapy and had an appointment booked for November 4, which tragically fell one day after the event.
"I never thought this is how our story would end," Anna Lynch wrote in the post, remembering her husband as a "wonderful dad" and her children as "best friends forever." She urged followers to "check in on your loved ones."
Lynch, an Ivy League graduate with degrees from Dartmouth College and Carnegie Mellon University, had worked as a data scientist for Slice for four years until August.
The Allegheny County Medical Examiner's Office confirmed that the children died from multiple blunt force injuries, with their deaths ruled as homicides. The cause and time of death for Patrick Lynch have not been publicly released.
The Allegheny County Police Department declined to comment on the claims regarding Lynch's mental health when contacted by The Post.
Caroline Lynch had been diagnosed with Williams syndrome, a rare genetic disorder, and also suffered from heart and lung disease since shortly after birth, according to a 2025 interview with her mother. Anna Lynch co-founded the Inclusion Collective, a non-profit focused on disability awareness and inclusion, partly inspired by her daughter's health challenges.
An online fundraiser established to support Anna Lynch in burying her family had raised over $170,000 of its $200,000 goal as of Thursday morning. The page's description expressed that no mother should endure such pain and aimed to alleviate the financial burden of funeral costs.