Police: Body found likely missing NY woman; kin dead

PLEASANT VALLEY, N.Y.  - A body discovered beside a road is believed to be that of a woman missing since her husband and two sons were found shot to death, New York State Police said Friday.

Trooper Melissa McMorris said investigators had "great certainty" that the body found Friday in Wappingers Falls is 43-year-old Sarwat Lodhi. Lodhi's family was found dead on Thursday about 13 miles south in the town of Pleasant Valley.

The cause of Lodhi's death was unavailable, McMorris said, and authorities weren't commenting on who they believe was responsible for the deaths of her and her family, 49-year-old pharmacist Abbas Lodhi, 9-year-old Zain Lodhi and 13-year-old Mugthba Lodhi.

Authorities have said they believed Sarwat Lodhi had been injured and was a victim, not a suspect, in a "family tragedy."

The father and one of his sons were found shot to death Thursday morning in a car parked at a supermarket in Pleasant Valley, a 90-minute drive north of New York City. A shotgun believed to have been used in the killings was found with the car. Police said they later found the other boy's body at the family's home.

State records show Abbas Lodhi has had a pharmacy license since 1993, and the chamber of commerce in nearby Hyde Park lists him as the owner of the Hyde Park Pharmacy. A call to the pharmacy referred former customers to a CVS branch, where an employee had no comment.

Business owners near the pharmacy who knew Lodhi told the Poughkeepsie Journal he was a native of Pakistan and a fan of soccer and cricket.

Jean McArthur, owner of Pay-less Oil and McArthur's Wine and Liquors, said she learned three weeks ago that Lodhi was selling his business.

"He was just an average guy trying to make a living," she said.

The Arlington Central School District, where the boys were in the fourth and eighth grades, said it was providing grief counseling for schoolmates and staff.