A New Jersey town is reeling in the aftermath of a shocking murder-suicide that wiped out a “loving” family of four, including two young girls.
Andrea Alarcon this week is believed to have gunned down husband Ruben Alarcon, 51, as well as daughters Scarlett, 9, and Emma, 6, before turning the weapon on herself inside the family’s Lincrest Terrace home in Union, authorities said.
As the town made plans for a Wednesday funeral, Emma’s heartbroken pre-K teacher recalled a “petite little girl” surrounded by an “amazing family.”
“I was Emma’s first teacher!” Rafaela Remelgado told The Post through tears on Saturday.
“I cannot tell you what happened…But this was a family that was very caring, loving, nurturing and generous,” she said.
The girl was such “a leader” it was like having a second teacher in the room, said Remelgado, who taught Emma at the Hannah Caldwell School in Union during the 2021-2022 school year.
Andrea Alarcon was a dutiful class mom who “was on top of everything” and made Valentine’s Day gifts for her daughter’s 14 classmates, the educator recalled.
Emma’s lunches were “beautifully prepared” and her mom would “use heart shapes to cut sandwiches,” Remelgado remembered, adding the mom would leave notes for her daughter.
Andrea Alarcon would make mac and cheese for the girl and put everything in tiny containers “because everything for Emma was petite…It was prepared with a lot of love.
“This is shocking,” Remelgado said.
The family massacre occurred just as their suburban home was being foreclosed on, prosecutors said.
Local sheriffs showed up at the home to serve an eviction notice around 10:30 a.m. Wednesday when they found all four victims with mortal gunshot wounds, according to officials.
The murder weapon was located near the woman’s body, leading investigators to conclude she was responsible for the deadly domestic violence, according to prosecutors.
The Alarcon home was sold for $322,000 at a November sheriff’s sale, according to reports, and the family, who had lived there for 15 years, had 60 days to vacate or face eviction.
Remelgado, who is now a kindergarten teacher in North Carolina, signed an online tribute book for the Alarcon family.
She recalled that after she left New Jersey she had gotten a voicemail from Emma saying, “Mrs. R, I miss you. I want you to come back!”
On Saturday, flowers and balloons could be seen outside what was once the Alarcon home.
One woman who asked to not be identified went up and lit a candle for the family.
“You would never have known,” lamented a neighbor who gave her name as Patricia.
“They were very lovely people. I really mean that. They were here for quite a long time. And she was a good mom. Lovely, very friendly, polite, you know, husband was really nice, so I just don’t know what could have [happened], you know?”
A funeral mass will be held on Wednesday at 10:15 a.m. at St. Michael’s Church, 1212 Kelly St., Union. Visitation and burial will be held privately.
Any donations will be used to assist in paying for funeral and cemetery expenses. For more information or to donate visit unionfuneralhome.com.