The bodies of Susan Wolfe and Sarah Wolfe were found Friday in their basement and police are investigating their deaths as a homicide.
PITTSBURGH — Two sisters of an Iowa state representative have been found dead of apparent gunshot wounds in the Pittsburgh home they shared, and police are investigating the case as a double homicide.
The bodies of 44-year-old Susan Wolfe and 38-year-old Sarah Wolfe were found Friday afternoon in their basement after they didn’t show up for work, authorities said. Police found Sarah Wolfe’s car around 1:15 a.m. Saturday parked nearly a mile away.
Sarah Wolfe was a psychiatrist for Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, and Susan Wolfe was a teacher’s aide at Hillel Academy in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood.
Pittsburgh police Lt. Daniel Herrmann said they don’t have a motive for the killings, and there were no signs of forced entry. Family members, most of whom live in Iowa, said they’re still trying to figure out what happened.
A sister, Mary Wolfe, is an Iowa Democratic state representative who lives in Clinton. Her website says she is the oldest of eight children, six girls and two boys.
On her Facebook page Saturday night, Rep. Wolfe thanked friends, neighbors and colleagues for their support.
“We are so grateful,” she wrote. “Heartbroken, but grateful.”
The medical examiner’s office has not released causes of death, but police say it appears the women had been shot.
Neighbors said the area is normally quiet and safe.
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Sarah Wolfe, 38, and Susan Wolfe, 44, found dead inside home on Chislett Street
Sarah Wolfe, 38, and Susan Wolfe, 44, were found dead Friday afternoon inside a home in Pittsburgh’s East Liberty neighborhood.
The sisters were found shot to death in the basement of their home in the 700 block of Chislett Street, police said.
Officers from Zone 5 went to the home around 12:45 p.m. to check on a woman who didn’t show up for work, Lt. Dan Herrmann said.
“When they went inside, they found that the female had passed away, and they also found another female in there who also passed away, so they backed out and they called the homicide squad. We’re processing the scene. We believe this is possibly murder,” Herrmann said.
Police had been searching for a 2011 Ford Fiesta that belongs to one of the sisters, but have found it.
Herrmann said Dr. Sarah Wolfe worked at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, while Susan Wolfe was a teacher’s aide at a school in Squirrel Hill. He said the sisters had moved to the area in December.
Their deaths are being investigated as homicides.
Police have not yet commented on a suspect or a motive.
Neighbors said the area has seen less crime in recent years and they were stunned by the murder investigation.
Autopsies will be performed Saturday.
The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center issued the following statement:
“It is with deep sorrow and heavy hearts that we mourn the loss of Dr. Sarah Wolfe. We send our sympathy to Sarah’s family and friends who mourn her loss as well as the loss of her sister. Sarah served children, adolescents and families at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, and served as a consultant at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC.
As a triple-boarded physician, Sarah was a pediatrician, child psychiatrist and an adult psychiatrist. She was an assistant professor with the University of Pittsburgh, Department of Psychiatry. She was known as a very compassionate, warm, caring and bright physician who was praised by patients, families, staff and colleagues,” said Dr. Claudia M. Roth, president and CEO of Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, and vice president of Behavioral Health for UPMC.
