Overview
- Deputies conducted a welfare check around 8:30 p.m. Thursday after the husband, traveling in South America, reported he could not reach his family.
- Responders found Monika Rubacha, 44, and her children Josh, 14, and Emma, 11, dead inside the residence with traumatic injuries and signs of homicidal violence.
- Investigators determined the children were killed in separate rooms and said Rubacha fatally shot them before dying by suicide, with no evidence anyone else was involved.
- The medical examiner has not yet issued official cause and manner determinations, and the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office says the case remains active.
- The Lake Club community notified residents of the incident, and local reporting notes police believe the son may have died earlier than his sister and mother, a detail not yet confirmed by autopsy.