August 2025 changed how people in the Seacoast region look at their neighbors. Madbury is a tiny town, maybe 2,000 people or so, tucked right next to Durham. It is the kind of place where you expect to hear about a planning board meeting or a high school track meet, not a quadruple tragedy that makes national headlines. But the case of Emily Long Madbury New Hampshire broke every rule of small-town safety.
Honestly, it’s a story that feels like two different lives collided. On one side, you had this digital diary on TikTok where Emily Long was a "brain cancer wife," sharing the brutal reality of her husband Ryan’s glioblastoma. On the other side, there was a massive investigation into $660,000 missing from a local business.
It's heavy. It’s complicated. And it’s a lot more than just a "crime story."
The Morning That Shook Madbury
Monday, August 18, 2025. Around 5:30 in the morning, while most of the town was still asleep or just starting their coffee, everything changed inside a home on Moharimet Drive.
State Police eventually found four people dead: Ryan Long, age 48; his wife, Emily Long, age 34; and two of their children, 8-year-old Parker and 6-year-old Ryan. A third child, a toddler, was physically unhurt.
People were stunned. Ryan was a school psychologist for the Oyster River Cooperative School District. He was the guy kids went to when they were struggling. He was part of the "fabric of the community," as one neighbor put it. The kids had just been running a lemonade stand. It was a picture-perfect summer, until it wasn't.
What the Autopsy Revealed
The New Hampshire Attorney General’s office didn't leave much room for speculation on the "how." Chief Medical Examiner Jennie V. Duval confirmed that Ryan Long died from multiple gunshot wounds. The two children, Parker and Ryan, each died from a single gunshot wound to the head.
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The ruling? Homicide.
As for Emily Long, her cause of death was a single self-inflicted gunshot wound. The state officially ruled the event a murder-suicide. They believe Emily took a handgun already in the home and killed her family before turning the gun on herself.
The Digital Diary: Life as a "Brain Cancer Wife"
If you were one of the 5,000+ people following Emily on TikTok, you thought you knew her. Her handle, @EmilyLong41, was a window into a nightmare. Ryan had been diagnosed in April 2024 with glioblastoma, which is basically the most aggressive brain cancer you can get.
She posted about:
- Chemotherapy rounds and surgery.
- The "anticipatory grief" of watching a spouse decline.
- How hard it was for the kids to see their dad change.
- Her own mental health struggles and depression.
She called it her "digital diary" and said it was "cheaper than therapy." In her final video, posted just a day before the shootings, she looked into the camera from her car. She talked about a neighborhood get-together. She said she was "making strides to get better" because hiding under a blanket wasn't healthy for her or the kids.
It seemed like a mom trying to hold it together. But the police found a very different story when they looked at her professional life.
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The $660,000 Question
A week before the tragedy, Emily’s boss at Wing-Itz—a local chicken wing chain where she was the Director of Operations—went to the police. Derek Fisher, the owner, had started noticing "significant accounting inconsistencies" back in June.
By the time he did a deep dive, he realized over $660,000 was gone.
He had trusted her for years. She’d been with the company since 2018 and handled almost everything. When he finally confronted her and asked for bank statements, she allegedly handed over doctored records with pages missing. On August 11, she texted her resignation. A day later, she sent a vague apology.
Nobody knows where the money went. Maybe it was the medical bills for the cancer treatments. Maybe it was something else entirely. Fisher told reporters he isn't even looking to get the money back from the estate; he just wants whatever is left to go to the surviving toddler.
Why the "Single Stressor" Theory Doesn't Work
It’s tempting to point at the embezzlement or the cancer and say, "That’s why." But the AG’s office and mental health experts have been pretty vocal about not doing that.
Homicide-suicide is rarely about one thing. It's usually a "perfect storm" of factors. You had a woman dealing with the terminal illness of her husband, the primary caretaking of three small kids, a looming criminal investigation, and a massive financial collapse.
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It’s a lot for any human brain to process.
Community Impact and the 988 Lifeline
The Oyster River School District had to bring in grief counselors for staff and students. It’s a small community where everyone knows everyone. When a school psychologist—the person trained to help people through trauma—becomes the victim of it, the impact is doubled.
The state has been pushing the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline hard after this. They want people to know that if you see "indicators of crisis," you have to speak up. It’s not about judging; it’s about getting people to a safe place before the pressure cooker explodes.
What’s Next for the Surviving Child?
The only light in this dark story is the outpouring of support for the youngest son. A GoFundMe for the toddler raised nearly $140,000 in the first few days. He is staying with relatives now.
The investigation is technically ongoing, though with the primary suspect deceased, there won't be a trial. Police are still looking into the timeline of the "missing" three hours between the shots fired at 5:30 AM and the 911 call at 8:20 PM.
Practical Next Steps for Those Impacted or Concerned:
- Support Local Resources: If you are in the Seacoast area, the Oyster River Cooperative School District continues to offer resources for families affected by the tragedy.
- Use the 988 Lifeline: If you or someone you know is struggling with "anticipatory grief" or extreme financial stress, call or text 988. It’s free and confidential.
- Respect the Family's Privacy: While the TikTok videos were public, the surviving family members (especially the toddler) deserve space to heal without public intrusion.
- Financial Vigilance for Small Businesses: For business owners, this case is a reminder that even "trusted" long-term employees should be subject to regular third-party audits. It protects both the business and the employee from the temptation or pressure of financial mismanagement.
The story of Emily Long Madbury New Hampshire is a reminder that what we see on a screen—the curated "dark humor" and the updates on a husband's health—is often only a fraction of the reality. Sometimes, the most important parts of the story are the ones no one is posting about.