Karen Solomon, a Massachusetts mental health advocate for law enforcement who was being sought in connection with the death of her police officer husband, appears to have been found dead Monday, ending a multiday search.
Worcester Police Chief Paul Saucier told reporters Monday that a body officials believed to be Solomon’s was found in a wooded area near a gun. Authorities are awaiting confirmation of her identity.
Investigators believe the deaths of Karen and Kurt Solomon, an officer with the department who was found dead on Aug. 18 at the couple’s home in Worcester, west of Boston, were the result of a murder-suicide, Saucier said.
In a statement read by the chief, the Solomon family described the events of the last week as a “nightmare” that “has left our family heartbroken and rudderless. The compassion, dedication, and empathy of all agencies involved have given us light in face of darkness.”
“For those in Massachusetts and throughout the world who have offered up prayers and sympathies, they have helped us through each minute of the day,” the statement added. “Thank you for your basic human compassion.”
The search for Solomon began Tuesday after the discovery of Kurt Solomon’s body. He was off-duty at the time. Police had been called to the residence about 5:30 a.m. following a report of a person down.
Multiple agencies, including the U.S. Marshals Service and Homeland Security Investigations, assisted in the search. Police Chief Paul B. Saucier had said that Karen Solomon should be considered armed and dangerous.
For years, the woman had advocated for the mental health of police officers and their families through First H.E.L.P., an organization she co-founded. She wrote two books. “Hearts Beneath the Badge” is about the experiences of law enforcement and their families, and “The Price They Pay” is about the emotional and physical effects of traumatic events on officers.
She also wrote articles on law enforcement suicide, according to a biography on her organization’s website, and participated in a 2020 Justice Department hearing of the President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice, where she testified on a panel focused on support for officers and their families.
Kurt Solomon served as a patrol officer with the Worcester Police Department for more than 30 years and was nearing retirement, Worcester police union leader Thomas Duffy III said.
Authorities have not said how Kurt Solomon died but described his death as “an act of domestic violence.” During Monday’s news conference, Saucier said there was no prior history of domestic abuse in the family.
