Alyssa and Ryan Sherland

INDIAN TRAIL – Conrad Sherland had been divorced from his wife Amanda Sherland, 43, for 4 years. He was supposed to pick up his two kids 9-year-old Ryan Sherland and 7-year-old Alyssa Sherland on Friday to spend the weekend with him at his home. After not being able to contact them over the weekend, he filed a missing persons report on Sunday. When deputies went to the home of Amanda, they found her and the two children dead in an apparent murder-suicide.

Amanda had recently moved from Florida to NC and bought a house in August. Conrad then followed and bought a house 10 miles away. Conrad had been trying to contact Amanda on Friday morning to inform her that he would be late picking the children up from Hemby Bridge Elementary School. What he didn’t know is that neither Ryan or Alyssa were in school that day, although neighbors report seeing them outside of the home that afternoon. Conrad went by the home on Friday night where he saw no vehicles in the driveway and no one answered the door.

When deputies arrived at the home on Sunday, they found the front door unlocked. Upstairs, they found Alyssa in her bedroom and Ryan in his room, both shot to death. Amanda Sherland was beside Ryan on the bed, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot from a 9mm pistol. A suicide note was found, but it’s contents were not revealed at this time.