HARVEY, La. — Jefferson Parish Sheriff Joe Lopinto said a haunting message to the 911 system foretold a horrific scene at a home in Harvey early Thursday. “We can’t continue to live like this,” Lopinto said the man leaving the message said. “You’ll find four bodies when you get here.”
Lopinto said the man was unfortunately true to his word and deputies responding to the call found four bodies – 43-year-old Tim Ragas, 45-year-old Joanna Ragas, her 20-year-old son Eric Thorneblom and their special needs son, 13-year-old Timothy Ragas.
Relatives believe a combination of depression, family medical issues and deep financial problems may have led to the nightmarish outcome.
“He wasn’t working the last, almost three years,” Ragas’ sister-in-law said. “He did get a job recently and he had to lose it because (Joanna) was having medical issues and they had an autistic son and (Tim) had to be here to take care of him because he wasn’t socially where a lot of people could take care of him.”
Ragas’ relatives said they and Joanna Ragas’ family were helping some financially but, until they got to see the home today, they had no idea how bad it was.
“Depression, it’s terrible,” said Ragas’ sister-in-law. “He couldn’t pull himself out of the depression and medically she was going through things."
"It looks like financial problems and stuff have left a destitute situation, and they took it into their own hands unfortunately this morning," Lopinto said.
Dr. Reggie Parquet, with Tulane’s school of social work said those suffering from financial pressure or depression should seek out professional help.
“It creates a level of stress, it creates a level of pressure, it creates a level of depression if they don’t have the resources to cope with those things, or the financial resources to help with their needs, poor outcomes can happen,” Dr. Parquet said.
Parquet said he believes while there’s mental health facilities around, not everyone has access to them, so experts need to go to them, saying, “If one does not have the financial means or an automobile to get to a service center facility, members of those service center facilities have to get in their cars and go to those places.”
The sheriff said it is unclear if there were two shooters involved in the apparent murder-suicide.
"Some of the information could make me believe that maybe they decided to do this together from the parents - the mother and father," Lopinto said. "But I'm going to let the coroner's office make that determination."
The sheriff said that the father was formerly employed as a law enforcement officer "from years ago." Lopinto would not name which agency the man worked for, except that it was not in Jefferson Parish.
The relatives say they now wonder how they’ll be able to afford to bury four family members.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help the family with the burials.
If you need mental health assistance, you can visit the Metropolitan Human Services Center in New Orleans or the Jefferson parish human services authority in Metairie. If you need to talk to someone immediately, you can call the national suicide hotline, 211 or the local crisis line on 504-832-5123.