A somber discovery near the Atlantic City Boardwalk led to intense police activity early Thursday morning as two women were found with severe gunshot wounds to the head, one of whom was pronounced dead at the scene. FOX29 reports that the incident took place around 4:40 a.m. The deceased has been identified as 32-year-old Carley Elbert of Sewell.
The second victim was rapidly transported to the hospital, though her condition remains undisclosed. In a chilling sequence of events captured by surveillance cameras, workers at the nearby Flagship Resort relay to NBC Philadelphia that footage showed three men and two women heading to the boardwalk around 2 a.m. The same cameras later captured only the trio of men departing the area, with the whereabouts of the women, at that time, unknown.
Following the leads, law enforcement traced the suspects back to Philadelphia, where the three men were arrested and held for extradition to New Jersey. The individuals apprehended include the prime suspect in the murder and the two brothers identified as Ryan Schenck, 30, and Ramir Schenck, 27. As 6ABC adds, the Schenck brothers are charged with hindering apprehension relevant to Elbert's murder. The collaboration between Philadelphia Police, the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office's Major Crimes Unit, the Atlantic City Police Department, and the FBI’s Philadelphia Office has yielded a swift response to the tragic event.
While an arrest does not equate to a conviction, the gravity of the crime and the resultant legal proceedings signal a thorough and intensive investigation will follow. An autopsy by the Southern Regional Medical Examiner's Office is pending, which will clarify the exact cause and manner of Elbert's death. In the interim, the community grapples with the stark violence that has unfolded, disturbing the peace of the famed boardwalk, a centerpiece to the storied New Jersey shoreline.
