READING, MA. (THECOUNT) — Andria Hanafin, 49, was found shot dead inside her Reading home early Thursday, while her 22-year-old son, Ryan Hanafin, is being sought as a person of interest and considered armed and dangerous, authorities said. Her husband, Matthew Hanafin, called 911 after finding her body.
Reading police responded to 9 Center Avenue home around 12:38 a.m. after Matthew Hanafin returned from work and discovered his wife deceased in the kitchen. Responding officers found Andria suffering from an apparent gunshot wound and she was pronounced dead at the scene.
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The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is conducting an autopsy. The official cause and manner of death have not been determined.
Ryan Hanafin was not at the home when police arrived and remains unaccounted for. Authorities are searching for him and a black 2010 Dodge Charger bearing Massachusetts license plate 2PSY15. The vehicle was last seen around 7:25 p.m. Wednesday traveling on Interstate 93 toward the Tewksbury area.
Hanafin has a license to carry a firearm, which Reading police suspended Thursday morning. Authorities said firearms are registered to him and warned that he may be armed and dangerous. Anyone who sees Hanafin or his vehicle is urged not to approach him and to call 911.
The couple’s 13-year-old son was home and unharmed. Investigators said he last saw his mother alive around 5 p.m. Wednesday before leaving the home with friends. He returned around 9 p.m. and went directly to his room without seeing his mother.
Authorities said they believe the case may involve domestic violence, although the circumstances surrounding the shooting remain under investigation. The family had no significant history of police calls at the home, officials said.
The investigation is being conducted by Reading police, the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office and Massachusetts State Police detectives assigned to the case. No one had been taken into custody as of Thursday afternoon.
Reading is a community in Middlesex County approximately 15 miles northwest of Boston and part of the Greater Boston metropolitan area.
View Center Avenue in Reading on Google Maps
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