THE FINAL TEXT 5 MESSAGE: New York mom Sarah Miller’s last message about a “stomach bug” takes on chilling new meaning Just hours before investigators say four children—Emma Miller, Lucas Miller, Noah Miller, and Ava Miller—were killed in a murder-suicide in New York, their mother, Sarah Miller, sent a text to the children’s father, John Miller, saying that one of them had a “stomach bug.” Now, that final exchange between Sarah Miller and John Miller is being closely examined as newly released details shed light on the family’s final hours before the devastating tragedy unfolded. Full story in the comments👇
**Chilling Final Text Reveals Mother’s Deception on Day of Family Tragedy in Upstate New York**
On the afternoon of June 10, 2026, Sarah Myers sent a brief, ordinary-sounding text message to her ex-husband, Brady Harmon. The message read: “The kids have gotten a little stomach bug throwing up is it okay to switch your online visit to tomorrow night at 4 pm your time please.” Harmon, living more than 2,000 miles away in Utah, replied that he would continue with his painting work and hoped the children would feel better soon. That short exchange has since become one of the most haunting pieces of evidence in a case that shocked upstate New York and drew national attention.
What Harmon could not have known was that, according to Mechanicville police, his four children were already in the process of being killed inside an apartment shared by Myers and her mother, Amy Steadman. By the time Harmon tried to check on them the next day—with a text asking if the “kiddos” were feeling better and an unanswered video call at 4:02 p.m.—the children, their mother, and their grandmother were dead. The six bodies were not discovered until June 23, nearly two weeks later, when police conducted a wellness check and found them in an advanced state of decomposition.
The victims were identified as Harper Harmon, 13; Hudson Harmon, 11; and the 10-year-old twins Gavin and Gracelynn Harmon, along with Sarah Myers, 44, and Amy Steadman, 64. Police Chief Bill Rabbitt later confirmed that the children’s deaths were ruled homicides while the deaths of Myers and Steadman were ruled suicides. Investigators concluded that the mother and grandmother had acted together in a planned conspiracy that began no later than June 5.
The final text about a “stomach bug” stands out because of its timing and its ordinary tone. It was sent on the same day police believe the killings occurred. In the days leading up to June 10, Myers had been exchanging messages with Harmon about summer plans. She had agreed that the children would spend two months with their father in Utah beginning July 1. She had discussed FaceTime schedules, birthday calls, and even asked him to deposit child support so she could buy the children new sneakers. On June 5 she wrote, “We are good for summer.” On June 8 she assured him she was gathering the information he requested about the children’s hobbies and medical records so that “everyone has a safe fun time.” These messages created the appearance of cooperation at the very moment, police say, that Myers and Steadman were coordinating the children’s deaths.
Brady Harmon had not seen his children in person since 2019. He had been preparing carefully for their arrival. In one message he asked for details about each child’s interests so he could plan an enjoyable, active summer centered on the things they genuinely liked. He requested medical records so he could care for them properly. The last time he spoke with the children was a 17-minute video call on June 7. He later described them as seeming like “happy little kids.” That call would prove to be their final conversation.
Police reconstructed the sequence of events through text messages exchanged between Myers and Steadman, pharmacy records, and handwritten notes found inside the apartment. According to Chief Rabbitt, the two women discussed obtaining medications, the location where the acts would take place, how the children would be gathered, what they would be told, and how to avoid raising suspicion. Steadman had visited multiple pharmacies in the days beforehand, collecting over-the-counter sleep aids and medications prescribed to her. Messages indicated that the women were still communicating while the events of June 10 unfolded. At one point a message noted that the plan was not progressing as expected and that another option was needed. Another message indicated that one of the children had become aware of what was happening.
A handwritten note signed by Steadman accepted responsibility and stated that the author believed killing the children was the only way to keep them safe from alleged abuse in Utah. Unsigned writings attributed to Myers referred to the children as “my babies,” expressed anger toward the Utah family court system, and repeated claims that she and the children had been abused while living in Utah. Police said they were unable to independently verify those allegations. Harmon has categorically denied them. Chief Rabbitt stated clearly that whatever the two women believed, “the deliberate murder of four children cannot be described as protection.”
When Harmon later released screenshots of the final text exchanges on Facebook, he accompanied them with a lengthy statement signed “love always, Dad.” He wrote that he could not understand how anyone could claim the acts were done to save his children from harm. “The greatest possible harm was done to them,” he said. “They were terrified, betrayed, and robbed of their lives by the very people who were supposed to protect them. My children were not pawns to be sacrificed when control was slipping away. They were four beautiful human beings with personalities, dreams, fears, laughter, and an entire family waiting to love them.” He added that he had believed he was preparing to welcome his children home.
The custody background provides important context. Harmon had recently been granted time with the children for the summer. Sources close to the case indicated that Steadman in particular had grown resentful of the upcoming transfer of the children to their father’s care. The women portrayed their actions as a form of protection against a system and a parent they claimed had failed the children. Investigators found images on Myers’ devices that appeared to document alleged injuries, but they could not confirm the circumstances surrounding those images. Harmon’s denials and the absence of independent corroboration left the abuse claims unsubstantiated.
The discovery of the bodies on June 23 came after the family had not been seen for nearly two weeks. The advanced state of decomposition complicated the initial response. Early reports noted the presence of numerous prescriptions and over-the-counter medications inside the apartment, consistent with intentional use. One of the children was found to have been stabbed; the others showed evidence consistent with poisoning. Toxicology results remained pending at the time of the most detailed public updates in early August.
Mechanicville, a small city in Saratoga County along the Hudson River, is not a place accustomed to crimes of this scale. The case drew intense local and national media attention, with updates from the police department, New York State Police, and coverage in outlets ranging from the Times Union to national publications. Chief Rabbitt held multiple press conferences, carefully distinguishing between what investigators could prove and what remained under review. He emphasized that the text messages and notes provided a clear record of planning and coordination, including communications that continued while the killings were underway.
For Brady Harmon, the release of the final text messages represented both a public accounting and a personal reckoning. He had shared the messages with investigators earlier. By making them public in August, he sought to illustrate the ordinary tone of the deception and the abrupt silence that followed. His statements repeatedly returned to the same themes: the children’s individual personalities, the plans he had been making for their summer, the final happy video call, and his rejection of any narrative that framed the killings as protective. He described the loss as the destruction of four lives that still had dreams, laughter, and a family waiting for them.
The broader implications of the case touch on difficult questions that family courts, child-protection agencies, and communities confront with tragic frequency. Allegations of abuse, contested custody, parental alienation, and mental-health crises can create environments of extreme distrust. In this instance, the adults involved chose a path that police and the surviving parent have both described as the opposite of protection. The notes left behind reveal a worldview in which killing the children was presented as the only remaining option. Officials have been careful not to speculate beyond the evidence, but they have been firm in rejecting the justification offered by the perpetrators.
As of the most recent updates, the investigation continued on several fronts. Toxicology reports were still outstanding. Digital evidence, including the full chain of text messages and any additional files recovered from devices, remained under review. Police indicated they were examining whether any other individuals had knowledge of the plans, though no evidence of outside involvement in the actual killings had been announced. The focus remained on documenting the conspiracy between Myers and Steadman and on providing as complete an account as possible to the public and to the children’s father.
The final text about a “stomach bug” continues to resonate because of its banality. In the language of ordinary parental communication—rescheduling a video call, mentioning mild illness—it concealed the irreversible events unfolding that day. For Harmon, the message marked the last ordinary contact before silence. For investigators, it formed part of a larger pattern of deception that ran parallel to the planning of the killings. For the public, it has become a symbol of how thoroughly the children’s reality was hidden from the parent who was preparing to receive them.
In the weeks and months that followed the discovery of the bodies, the case prompted renewed discussion about the limits of family-court intervention, the challenges of verifying claims across state lines, and the profound consequences when parents or grandparents conclude that death is preferable to shared custody. None of those discussions can restore the four children who lost their lives. Harper, Hudson, Gavin, and Gracelynn Harmon are remembered by their father as individuals with distinct personalities and futures that were taken from them. The official record now states clearly that their deaths were the result of a deliberate plan carried out by their mother and grandmother.
Brady Harmon’s public statements have centered on honoring the children’s memory rather than on the details of the crime. He has stressed that they were not instruments in a larger conflict but four young people who deserved protection, care, and the chance to grow up. The contrast between the reassuring messages Myers sent in early June and the reality of June 10 remains one of the most difficult aspects of the case for those who have followed it. The ordinary language of a parent reporting a stomach bug stands in permanent contrast to the irreversible outcome that followed.
Police have continued to urge anyone with additional information to come forward, though the core facts of the conspiracy appear well-documented through the women’s own communications and the physical evidence recovered from the apartment. Chief Rabbitt’s public remarks have been consistent: the murders were planned, coordinated, and carried out by the two adult women who then ended their own lives. Claims of protective intent do not alter the legal or moral character of the acts.
The tragedy in Mechanicville leaves behind a surviving father, extended family members, and a small community that must absorb the weight of what occurred. It also leaves a documentary trail—text messages, notes, pharmacy records, and the final ordinary-sounding text about a stomach bug—that records both the planning and the deception. In the end, the children’s lives were cut short on a June day when their father believed they were simply unwell and looking forward to a summer visit. The full accounting of those events continues through the justice system and through the ongoing efforts of investigators to answer remaining questions. For Brady Harmon and those who loved the four children, the loss remains absolute.
