Southern town rocked after wealthy family found dead inside home

South Carolina authorities on Friday morning made a grisly discovery inside a family’s stately Greer home.

The Spartanburg Sheriff’s Office responded to the home on Marilyn Perry Lane after receiving a call from a neighbor.

“Upon arrival, there was an initial language barrier, but once that was addressed, deputies entered the residence and discovered three deceased individuals inside the home,” the sheriff’s office said in a press release. “At this initial stage, this agency doesn’t feel like there is any threat to the public.”

The local coroner’s office confirmed the identities of the three deceased individuals to FOX Carolina as 9-year-old Samantha Samarel, 45-year-old Lina Maria Samarel and 54-year-old Richard Samarel.

The sheriff’s office said other children who lived in the home were at school when the three family members died, adding that the “agency would sincerely appreciate some compassion in media coverage and social media comments.”

“Rather than [piecemeal] answers to follow-up questions from individual media outlets, more detail will be provided in a subsequent release,” the sheriff’s office said.

Richard Samarel’s Facebook page states that the family is originally from New Jersey, and he previously worked as a manager for Bloomberg LP. Lina Samarel is originally from Colombia and worked as a therapist. The couple has three children.

Lina Samarel’s professional biography states that she is “a psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner and a family nurse practitioner” who is “experienced in a variety of healthcare settings, including outpatient psychiatry for adults and adolescents with mental illness and health and wellness services.” Her Facebook profile said she previously worked for the Department of Veterans Affairs.

“During her free time, Lina enjoys spending time with her husband and three children. Lina also enjoys reading and learning about new and relevant issues in Psychiatry and mental health,” her profile on GrowTherapy.com states. The coroner’s office and sheriff’s office are investigating the case.