A TEXT MESSAGE THAT CHANGED THE SARAH MYERS CASE: “It’s not working. We need another plan.” Police stated that this single message helped reveal that the murders of Harper, Hudson, Gavin, and Gracelynn Harmon were not impulsive acts—but rather part of a plot allegedly carried out jointly by Sarah Myers and Amy Steadman. What investigators uncovered following that message was even more chilling
**A TEXT MESSAGE THAT CHANGED THE SARAH MYERS CASE: “It’s not working. We need another plan.”**
Police stated that this single message helped reveal that the murders of Harper, Hudson, Gavin, and Gracelynn Harmon were not impulsive acts—but rather part of a plot allegedly carried out jointly by Sarah Myers and Amy Steadman. What investigators uncovered following that message was even more chilling.
On the morning of June 10, 2026, inside an apartment on Harris Avenue in Mechanicville, New York, a text message flashed between two phones. The words were brief, almost clinical: “It’s not working. We need another option.”
According to Mechanicville Police Chief William Rabbitt, that single exchange became one of the most pivotal pieces of evidence in the investigation into the deaths of four children and two adults. It helped transform what initially appeared to be a possible murder-suicide involving a grandmother into a documented joint conspiracy between 44-year-old Sarah Myers and her 64-year-old mother, Amy Steadman.
The message was sent after the pair had already begun administering a combination of prescription and over-the-counter medications to Myers’ four children—Harper Harmon, 13; Hudson Harmon, 11; and 10-year-old twins Gavin and Gracelynn. The drugs were not producing the expected results. What followed, police say, was a rapid and deliberate escalation that included the fatal stabbing of one child and the continued poisoning of the others. By the end of the day, all four children were dead. Myers and Steadman died by suicide shortly afterward. Their bodies, along with those of the children, were not discovered until June 23.
### The Message That Opened the Case
When investigators recovered the phones and digital communications from the apartment, the June 10 text stood out immediately. It was not an isolated expression of frustration. It sat in the middle of a chain of messages that began no later than June 5 and continued through the evening of the killings.
Chief Rabbitt explained at an August 4, 2026, news conference that the text proved the killings were not spontaneous. “Those conversations documented discussions regarding obtaining medications, where the murders would occur, how those medications would be administered, how the children would be brought together, what they would be told, and how suspicion could be avoided,” he said. The “It’s not working” message showed that the plan had already been set in motion and that the two women were actively adjusting it in real time when the initial method failed.
Earlier messages from Myers instructed Steadman to dose the children between 10:30 a.m. and noon so the act would be finished before a scheduled 6 p.m. telephone call with the children’s father, Brady Harmon, who lives in Utah. When the medications did not work as anticipated, the conversation shifted. One of the women—police have not publicly specified which—sent the critical text. Within hours, the plan changed.
### What Investigators Found After the Message
Following the recovery of that exchange, digital forensics and physical evidence painted a clearer and more disturbing picture.
Steadman’s internet search history showed queries in the preceding days about medication reactions and the effects of insulin on non-diabetics. Later searches included “Where is the most fatal place to be stabbed” and instructions related to locating the carotid artery. Surveillance footage and pharmacy records confirmed that Steadman had visited multiple pharmacies beginning around June 5, purchasing over-the-counter sleep aids and medications prescribed to her.
A message from 10-year-old Gracelynn on her iPad captured a moment of growing awareness and physical distress: “Why would you do that? You both won’t let me puke,” followed by descriptions of increasing stomach pain. Later that evening, Steadman texted Myers: “Gracie is aware.”
The final text communication between the two women occurred at approximately 8:41 p.m. About an hour later, cameras recorded Steadman stopping at a local gas station before returning to the apartment.
Three of the children died from intentional poisoning. Gavin suffered multiple stab wounds from a knife. He also had a defensive wound, indicating he attempted to protect himself during the attack. Police linked the stabbing directly to the failure of the initial poisoning plan and to Steadman’s earlier online research about fatal stab locations.
Handwritten documents found in the apartment further reinforced the joint nature of the plot. One letter, signed with Amy Steadman’s name, accepted responsibility and stated that killing the children was “the only way to keep them safe from alleged abuse in Utah.” It also noted that Sarah Myers had done everything she could and that no one would help her, while acknowledging the events had not unfolded as planned.
A series of unsigned notes, believed by investigators to have been written by Myers, repeatedly referred to the children as “my babies.” These writings expressed anger at the Utah family court system, repeated allegations of past abuse, and complained about an inability to obtain legal representation. Electronic files belonging to Myers contained images that appeared to show injuries to herself and some of the children, along with additional messages alleging abuse.
### Claims That Remain Unverified
Chief Rabbitt was explicit on one critical point: investigators were unable to independently verify the allegations of abuse. “While they documented allegations of abuse, investigators were not able to independently verify the circumstances surrounding the alleged incidents,” he said.
Brady Harmon has consistently and forcefully denied every claim. He told police and multiple news outlets that there was no abuse. He described the accusations as a “victim card” used to justify keeping him from his children. Harmon has never been charged with any related offense.
The stated motive in the letters—protecting the children from their father ahead of court-ordered summer parenting time in Utah—stands in sharp contrast to the physical and digital evidence of planning, adjustment, and execution.
The Larger Context of the Custody Dispute
Myers and Harmon married in 2015 in Salt Lake City and separated in 2019. Their divorce was finalized in 2020 with a joint custody arrangement. Myers had the children during the school year; Harmon was entitled to uninterrupted summer time, regular video contact, holidays, and birthdays. In reality, Harmon had not seen the children in person since November 2019.
By early 2026 he had secured summer parenting time scheduled to begin around July 1. Myers faced a Utah court date on June 29 for alleged noncompliance with the parenting plan. Harmon’s last conversation with the children took place on June 7 via FaceTime. On June 10, the day of the killings, Myers texted him that the children were sick and would call the next day. That call never occurred. The same day, his attorney sent formal paperwork regarding the upcoming enforcement hearing.
Records from Saratoga County Child Protective Services show multiple investigations into Myers between 2020 and 2024, with findings of inadequate guardianship and educational neglect in at least three cases. Harmon received approximately ten notifications from the agency over the years. Myers had withdrawn the children from public school to homeschool them.
### Discovery, Aftermath, and Official Conclusions
Neighbors requested welfare checks on June 13 and June 17. Officers responded but did not enter the correct unit. On June 23, after a third call, police entered Steadman’s apartment and found the six bodies in advanced decomposition.
The children’s remains were later cremated and returned to Utah, where Harmon and his family scattered the ashes on a mountaintop. Steadman’s public obituary was limited to two lines noting her death on June 23 and that services were private.
At the August 4 news conference, Chief Rabbitt summarized the evidence chain that began with the critical text message: the pharmacy purchases, the coordinated planning texts, the real-time adjustment when the drugs failed, Gracelynn’s message of distress, the stabbing of Gavin, the internet searches for lethal methods, and the handwritten justifications left behind.
“Amy Steadman and Sarah Myers consistently portrayed these murders as a way of protecting the children,” Rabbitt said. “Whatever they believed justified their actions, the deliberate murder of four children cannot be described as protection.”
The investigation remains technically open pending final toxicology results, which authorities have indicated they are unlikely to release in full. No evidence has emerged of any third-party involvement.
The text message “It’s not working. We need another option” did more than document a moment of frustration. It provided investigators with a clear chronological and intentional marker. From that point, the digital trail, physical evidence, and the children’s own messages reconstructed a sequence that police describe as premeditated, jointly executed, and adjusted in real time when the original method failed.
Four children—Harper, Hudson, Gavin, and Gracelynn—died on June 10, 2026. The adults who planned and carried out their deaths left behind a record of texts, searches, purchases, and letters. One short message helped unlock the rest.
