Paramedics and police were called to 2442 Route 143 in Kempton, PA on Monday, September 23, 2019. This wasn’t going to be a routine call for help.
Two children were allegedly found unresponsive in their home by their mother. They were quickly identified as Conner Snyder, aged 8, and his sister Brinley, 4. Their mother is Lisa Snyder (36).
The incident was slow to be reported in the media. Until the children passed away on Thursday, September 26, 2019. They died in hospital after being removed from life support, just 14 minutes apart from each other.
Police at first refused to comment on how the children died. The only information that was released was that the ‘children died from their injuries’. Locals started to speculate on Facebook:
A spokesperson from the state Department of Human Services confirmed that assessment and ongoing case management services were provided to Connor and Brinley Snyder through Berks County Children and Youth Services. The Center regularly engages in tracking and researching child fatalities in its work to prevent child abuse and protect children.
The online rumors then proved to be true. It has been confirmed that the children were found hanging from a dog leash in their basement.
Troopers said they received a call from Berks County Communications on Sept. 23 at about 4:30 p.m. with a report of two juvenile victims found hanging and unresponsive in the basement of 2442 Route 143. They obtained six different warrants to search the home for evidence.
According to the Reading Eagle, the children were found hanging from opposite ends of a plastic coated dog lead that had been wrapped around the main support beam of the basement ceiling, according to an affidavit in support of a search warrant. Each end of the wire lead was wrapped around the victims’ necks, the affidavit says.
Two chairs that had been taken from the house’s dining room were tipped over on the floor on either side of the bodies, court papers say.
The children were hanging about 3 feet apart from each other when their mother found them.
No arrests have been made in this case. Police are trying to investigate claims that the family had a dog living in their house at the time of the incident. Lisa Snyder described the dog as a ‘husky pit-bull mix that weighed about 50 lbs’. The dog has since been given away and police are attempting to track it down.
On October 16, 2019, details of the 911 call made in this case were released. Lisa Snyder told a 911 dispatcher that Conner had been bullied and had “made threats of doing this, but didn’t want to go alone.” The 911 call was made at 4:33 p.m. A dispatcher categorizing the call as a pediatric cardiac arrest with two patients. The children were both found hanging in the basement of the home, the dispatchers said.
On the recording, as crews rush to the scene, a fire captain asks the dispatcher, “Any indication from the caller if the scene is safe or how these children ended up there?”
The dispatcher responds, “She mentioned that the 8-year-old has been bullied and has made threats of doing this, but didn’t want to go alone. … At this time, it should just be the mother and the two children on scene.”
A woman has come forward, stating that she now owns the dog that originally belonged to the Snyder family. She says that the police are aware of this and they have been to visit her and the dog.
UPDATE- DECEMBER 2, 2019
‘Lisa Rachelle Snyder (36) was charged Monday with first-degree murder, third-degree murder, tampering with evidence, endangering the welfare of children, animal cruelty and sexual intercourse with a dog.’
Police released more information about their investigation. In September 2019, Lisa began researching methods of suicide. You can read the full affidavit here.
Authorities allege that on multiple days between September 17 and September 23, leading up to the deaths, Lisa Googled the following search terms:
“Carbon monoxide in a car how long to die.”
“almost got away with it”
“I almost got away with it best episodes>”
“hanging yourself”
“do a hybrid car produce carbon monoxide”
“does a hybrid car produce carbon monoxide while idling.”
She is accused of visiting a website that describes an effective way of hanging a person using a short drop/simple suspension,” according to a police affidavit obtained by Heavy.
According to Morning Call, some of the searches were a reference to “a true crime television series on Investigation Discovery.”
Police received Facebook records on October 28, 2019. The records indicate that “she engages in a sexually explicit message exchange about her dog performing sexual acts on her,” the affidavit alleged.
The messages were sent in early September.
“He’s eating my (female genitalia reference) daddy,” said one, and “he keeps moving every time the flash goes off.”
She also allegedly sent a photo showing a black-and-white dog performing oral sex on her and indicated, “He did good. Up until he started biting…”
Another photo showed a dog on his back with a human hand lying on top of the dog’s genitalia, and a picture of a dog performing oral sex on Snyder, the affidavit alleged. In a third picture, she had a ball gag in her mouth while wearing black lingerie, a nipple clip and was holding a cellular phone, according to the affidavit.
“He actually went for it all on his own this time. Was lashing in bed in my underwear and he started licking so I went with it,” she’s accused of writing the unidentified person on Facebook. Then she corrected her spelling as “laying.”
The dog leash that the children were hanged from was purchased from Walmart the day before they died. Police believe that Lisa pre-ordered the leash from a Samsung Note device, which they have not located.
In a first for our group, we now have a confirmed murderer amongst our members. Lisa joined True Crime Society a few weeks ago.
We have a real time discussion about this case in our Facebook group. Check back for updates as they emerge.