A woman and her two children are presumed dead after going over Niagara Falls in an incident police have described as “intentional in nature.”
New York State Police issued a statement on October 30 identifying the mom as Chianti Means and her children as Roman Rossman and Mecca Means. The children were 9 years old and 5 months old.
The report states the mom and her children as having ‘crossed over’ the ‘safety guild rail’ and going ‘over’ the falls and the incident being ‘intentional in nature’.
A member of the New York State police said in an interview with WKBW TV: “We’ve come to the conclusion that a 33-year-old mother, a nine-year-old son and then a five-month-old were all gone over the falls. We do believe it was intentional but the circumstances of that investigation and the circumstances of what actually happened are still under investigation.
“But we know that they went over due to the information from park police and some of the information we were able to obtain through multiple different sources in and around Niagara Falls and pieces of evidences we were able to come across in search warrants.
“They went there and they never came out. So that’s where we’re at. […] Like I said there’s a lot of safety railings, a lot of security measures at the state park so it’s not something where they just stumbled in.”
The official noted they ‘may be able to’ find out and ‘solve’ the circumstances surrounding why the family went into the falls or ‘we may never know’.
However, police don’t believe ‘any other parties were involved’.
New York State Police’s press release concludes: “New York State Park Police and State Police search/rescue efforts were conducted with negative results. This incident deems no public threat to safety.
“New York State Park Police Unmanned Aircraft Systems, NYSPP Marine Patrol, NYSP Aviation, Underwater Recovery Unit, Niagara Falls Police Department and Niagara Charter Schools are assisting in this investigation.”
