Indian American Family of Four Found Dead in Pennsylvania Home in Apparent Murder-Suicide
- The deceased have been identified as Deepak Prabakhar Kulkarni, 50, Arti Madhusudan Ayda, 47, Shubham Deepak Kulkarni, 15, and Sharvil Deepak Kulkarni, 8.
Authorities are investigating the deaths of four family members found in the basement of their home in Pennsylvania’s West Whiteland Township on Jan. 24. The deceased have been identified as Deepak Prabakhar Kulkarni, 50, Arti Madhusudan Ayda, 47, Shubham Deepak Kulkarni, 15, and Sharvil Deepak Kulkarni, 8.
Citing preliminary investigation by the West Whiteland Township Police Department and County Detectives, news reports say all four of the family members sustained gunshot wounds. Final cause and manner of death are pending autopsies and further investigation.
Police were called to the Kulkarni home after out-of-state family members could not reach them for several days. News reports say police used a garage door opener from one of the family’s vehicles to enter the residence. The family had lived in the Mountain View Drive residence for two years, although they had lived in the township prior to that, news reports quoted detective Scott Pezick as saying.
“This is a tragedy beyond comprehension because two children and both their parents are dead,” Chester County District Attorney Deb Ryan said. “These were members of our community. We will do everything in our power to learn why this horrific incident happened. My sympathy goes out to the family for their unimaginable loss.”
Describing the deaths as apparent murder-suicide, Pezick said there is no concern for a threat to the community at large. “There’s no indication that anything that happened was caused by somebody outside of that residence,” he said.
Meanwhile, Adya’s brother told 6abc Action News that the family is heartbroken and trying to come to terms with their loss. Neighbors told the news channel that the family mainly kept to themselves, but “they did not always get a sense of transparency” from the husband. One neighbor did note, however, that in the last few days the husband seemed distant and not quite himself.
The Kulkarni kids attended Collegium Charter School in Exton, Pennsylvania. Kulkarni worked as software analyst for Education Management Solutions in Exton, as per his LinkedIn profile. According to Adya’s LinkedIn profile, she was last employed as an app developer for the University of Pennsylvania.
So sorry to hear about this family….He was my school classmate from India. He was on our Whatsapp group. But he was a very quiet person.