Children fell over Niagara Falls before their mothers did, New York State Police say

New York State Police say they are continuing to search for the bodies of one mother and her two children going over Niagara Falls on Monday evening.

The victims, identified as 33-year-old Chaianti Means, her 9-year-old son Roman Rossman, and her 5-month-old daughter Mecca Means, are presumed dead. The Niagara Gazette reports that investigators are beginning to shed some light on what they know, calling the incident “deliberate in nature.”

“We believe this is intentional, but the circumstances of what actually happened are under investigation. They certainly went there that night and none of them returned. Through information we do know it was an intentional act, but the reason why is a more difficult answer,” said Trooper James O’Callaghan, a state police public information officer. “The circumstances of how that happened, that’s the part we might be able to solve, otherwise we might never know. I won’t go into what the witnesses saw because it is still an active case, but what they told us is alarming.”

O’Callaghan said the incident was captured on video by surveillance cameras in the state park and near the edge of the falls. The 9-year-old boy entered the water first on Monday, going over a four-foot safety rail around 9 p.m., followed by the baby girl; Then their mother jumped in.

The boy went over the falls first, he said.

When asked if Means was chasing her children, O’Callaghan said: “No, we think it was intentional.”

Investigators are trying to determine whether mental health issues may have played a role, the Gazette said. The fathers of both children were “very cooperative,” O’Callaghan added.

Means, who lived with her family in Niagara Falls, reportedly worked as a domestic violence counselor in Western New York.

The research and look for the bodies both continue. Searchers, including marine units and Park Police drones, have focused on the gorge and the Niagara River shoreline.

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