A welfare check at a sprawling New Jersey home began with an unsettling mystery: Officers could not reach anyone inside. Nearly 27 hours later, the search ended in a devastating discovery.The three people who lived at the Montgomery Township property were David Grodnick, 61, his wife, Lora Grodnick, 62, and their 24-year-old daughter, Sloane Grodnick.But the disturbing chain of events surrounding their deaths did not begin when police finally entered the house. Records cited in local reporting reveal that authorities had been called to the same address even earlier.The first warning came before dawn on Wednesday, September 30. At 4:30 a.m., Somerset County dispatch received a 911 call concerning a residential alarm at 39 Wild Azalea Lane in the Skillman section of Montgomery Township.A glass break had been reported at the property, according to The Montgomery News. Then, the following afternoon, authorities received another troubling call concerning the same address.

At about 3 p.m. on Thursday, October 1, dispatch received a request for a welfare check. The Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office placed the call at approximately 2:59 p.m.A neighbor had grown concerned after a large amount of mail accumulated in the family’s mailbox, according to The Montgomery News. The residents had also failed to respond to calls or text messages for some time.Montgomery Township police officers went to the property, but they were unable to contact or locate anyone living there. Police began investigating the family’s whereabouts. Then came one of the most striking details in the timeline: Officers did not successfully enter the house that afternoon or evening.It was not until 5:52 p.m. on Friday, October 2 — nearly 27 hours after the welfare check request — that officers finally gained entry. Inside, they found all three members of the Grodnick family dead.