STATE OF VERMONT

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY

VERMONT STATE POLICE

Autopsies completed in connection with death investigation in Newfane

NEWFANE, Vermont (Monday, Oct. 28, 2024) — The Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington on Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, completed autopsies on the two individuals whose bodies were found Friday at a home in Newfane.

They are identified as Blake Prescott, 91, and Helen Prescott, 88, a married couple who lived in the home on South Wardsboro Road where this incident occurred.

The medical examiner determined that Helen Prescott’s cause of death was gunshot wounds to the torso, and the manner of death is a homicide. The cause of Blake Prescott’s death was a gunshot wound to the chest, and the manner of death is a suicide.

The Prescott family asked the Vermont State Police to tell the public that Blake and Helen shared a lifetime of love and commitment to each other. “As a devoted couple of more than 70 years, who had recently experienced precipitously declining health, they chose to die together as they’d lived together,” the family said in a statement provided to the state police.

VSP’s investigation into this incident remains ongoing, and no further information is available at this time.

***Update No. 1, 6:50 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024***

Vermont State Police investigators have completed processing the home on South Wardsboro Road in Newfane where this incident occurred and have released the scene.

Autopsies on the two deceased individuals are expected to occur Sunday, Oct. 27, at the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington. VSP will provide another update following completion of the autopsies.

***Initial news release, 11:35 p.m. Friday, Oct. 25, 2024***

The Vermont State Police is investigating the deaths of two people whose bodies were found Friday, Oct. 25, 2024, at a home in Newfane.

Police received a call shortly after 5 p.m. from relatives who reported finding two family members dead in a home on South Wardsboro Road. First responders confirmed the deaths after arriving on scene.

Initial investigation indicates this was an isolated event involving individuals who knew each other. Current indications are that everyone involved with this incident is accounted for. No one is in custody. The state police has not identified any threat to the public.

The scene on South Wardsboro Road has been secured and will be processed for evidence. The bodies of the deceased individuals will be taken to the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington for autopsies to confirm identities and to determine the cause and manner of death.

Anyone with information that could assist state police in this case should contact the Vermont State Police barracks in Westminster at 802-722-4600. Tips also may be submitted anonymously online at https://vsp.vermont.gov/tipsubmit.

No additional details are currently available. The state police will provide updates as the investigation unfolds.

- 30 -