A Miami real estate agent, her two young daughters, and their estranged father are found dead in an apparent murder-suicide inside a Florida family home.Melanie Hyer, 46, her daughters Savannah, 11, and Sienna, 8, and the children’s father, Ryan Charles Whitten, 42, were discovered during a welfare check at Hyer’s Doral home Tuesday night, according to the Miami-Dade Police Office.Deputies said the four suffered stab wounds and are considering the case a murder-suicide.Haire was originally from Manhasset, New York and worked as a real estate agent in South Florida, focusing on luxury commercial and waterfront properties. According to her LinkedIn profile, she has also appeared as an industry expert in various media outlets during her career.Police said Heyer and Watten separated years ago but continued to care for their daughters.
Both were previously married to other partners and later divorced, NBC6 reported.The nature of the relationship between Heyer and Watten was tense. Whitten’s ex-wife told 7 News Miami that their relationship was “toxic” for years and included a long-standing dispute over custody of their children.However, she also said she was shocked by the news of the death and remembered Whitten as a devoted father.
She said she saw no signs of violence between him and Heyer.“I don’t know what happened,” she said.She added that Whiten feared losing custody of his daughters and called her three weeks before the incident to express his gratitude, a message she now believes may have been a quiet farewell.Community leaders in Doral described the incident as devastating. Mayor Christy Fraga said she personally knew Heyer and her children and called the deaths an “unimaginable tragedy.”“As a mother, and as someone who personally knows and admires the loving and dedicated mother at the heart of this tragedy, this loss hits particularly close to home,” Fraga wrote in an Instagram post.She also described Heyer as a “sunshine” who was deeply involved in her children’s school life and always willing to help.
