Anne Morell Petrillo, Daughter Of Slain Scripps Heiress, Commits Suicide On Same Bridge As Stepfather

TARRYTOWN, N.Y. — Police say they believe they've recovered the body of a woman whose suicidal jump from a suburban New York City bridge echoed her stepfather's plunge from it 15 years ago after a grisly family murder.

State Police Sgt. Todd Parent says the body found Sunday afternoon in the Hudson River is believed to be that of Anne Morell Petrillo.

Petrillo was the daughter of slain newspaper heiress Anne Scripps Douglas. Her stepfather, Scott Douglas, leaped to his death from the bridge in 1994 after killing her mother with a claw hammer. The family founded The Detroit News.

Witnesses saw Petrillo stop her car on the Tappan Zee Bridge and jump Thursday. She left a note, but police have refused to describe it.

Police say the Rockland County medical examiner's office will make the official identification.

Comments

[georgiegirl]

08:15 PM on 09/29/2009

If you have no empathy for others, you have no soul. I lost both my maternal grandparents to suicide when I was 5, and my mother never really got over their deaths. My lovely mother had many health issues, as well as personal ones and she killed herself 5 years ago. There is not a day that goes by that I think I should call her, I miss her terribly, and feel quilty because I did nothing to help her.
Anne and her sister went through hell because of what Scott did to their mother. The only coward in their story was Scott, who could not face his punishment.

[mymonica]

09:24 PM on 09/29/2009

omg, my heart goes out to you. Your Mom would be very proud of you for living a good and happy life. Never doubt that, don't let guilt cloud that. God bless you.

[rcwblessed]

04:35 AM on 09/30/2009

Stay strong, georgiegirl. My words just reached out to hug you.

[Okieborn]

06:56 PM on 09/29/2009

Really sad !!!

[mymonica]

03:58 PM on 09/29/2009

My mother committed suicide in 1991. So did her mother. My life has been a living hell, though only in my mind. Everyday I strive to see the beauty in life and find strength. Everyday is a struggle. Rest in peace, Anne. I'm so sorry you felt such pain and could not find any other way out.

[HurryUp1212009]

02:50 PM on 09/29/2009

This is an incredibly sad story with many wierd wrinkles. Ann Scripps was married to a friend of mine, Tony Morrell. He was a naughty boy, to say the least. She got tired of his behavior and they got divorced. She married the guy who came to paint her house, who then murdered her. Meanwhile, Tony was dying of cyrrhosis of the liver from alchohol. The two kids decided to have their mother's liver transplanted into their father, to prolong his life. He died in 2005. And you wonder why she was depressed, screwed up and suicidal??

[Ventoi]

11:06 AM on 09/29/2009

I became stomach sick the first day I looked at the photo...
and refrained from mentioning what REALLY came to mind...
but it was a twinge that has bothered me for years now...

the lighthouse in the foreground...

a few years ago...I wandered onto some site or other and found what felt to be a bunch of young girls...
talking about being mermaids...

the mind is a terrible thing to lose..
to drugs or the control of an authority figure
or an authority figure who holds an attraction to a young girl...

not all cults have names or addresses...

and although this is most likely not the case here...
another fear unmentioned...
is another possible child
lost to something in her head that we cannot see.

[Beantownbadboy]

07:15 AM on 09/29/2009

Why so many of you feel sorry for this person is beyond me. She wanted to jump, so she did. It's her decision, so get on with it. What's sad is wasting time commenting on this.

[IvyShoots]

08:27 AM on 09/29/2009

Then why did you?

[Beantownbadboy]

11:26 AM on 09/29/2009

So I could make your day by giving you something to comment about. Sparky

[rzan1]

11:23 PM on 09/29/2009

A person who is in enough emotional pain to be driven to suicide is worthy of our compassion. I am sorry you have none.

[Beantownbadboy]

07:37 AM on 09/30/2009

That person made a decision as an adult, for whatever reason, to take her own life. She doesn't need your unctuous sympathy. Butt out.

[Copgirlie]

06:43 AM on 09/29/2009

Nothing worth taking your own life. Quite the selfish act, if you ask me...

[truthartbeauty]

06:54 AM on 09/29/2009

not selfish at all. people in that much pain are not selfish

[IvyShoots]

08:28 AM on 09/29/2009

Eating is also a "selfish act." What's your point?

[pros54]

06:30 AM on 09/29/2009

The Tappanzee bridge is a most favored site for suicides and attempts I wonder if there is something that can be done to make most of the attempts unsuccessful? I do not want to talk about our mental health as a population or the care of people with already documented metal problems in this our great country.

[NY Grandma]

07:27 AM on 09/29/2009

The State Police do monitor the bridge for suicides. I imagine she knew this and was able to jump between patrols.

[ibsteve2u]

05:32 AM on 09/29/2009

These things are always so sad...such a waste.

May she find peace at last - and may her son find strength and hope.

[skyslimit]

06:08 AM on 09/29/2009

for some reason this post feels hollow and naked, you did read the story, right?

[DavidHeart]

01:25 PM on 09/29/2009

for some reason this reply feels hollow and naked, you did read the post, right?

[aznurse]

01:03 AM on 09/30/2009

what the heck does hollow and naked mean? Are you taking some kind of poetry class or something?
gezz.

[Benztown]

02:49 AM on 09/29/2009

"After life's fitful fever he sleeps well. Treason has done his worst. Nor steel nor poison, malice domestic, foreign levy, nothing can touch him further."W.Shakespeare

[rcwblessed]

02:38 AM on 09/29/2009

What a sad story. RIP, at last, Anne.

[ChelseaC]

01:32 AM on 09/29/2009

Anne,
Be at peace with the angels.

[Atmus]

12:47 AM on 09/29/2009

A proper health care system and Health Care EDUCATIONAL System might have been able to pull her in instead of her taking it upon herself to find her own solution.

[beyondthepale9779]

01:23 AM on 09/29/2009

She was an heiress to a newspaper fortune. I would guess she had more and better healthcare than any of us. Try using a soapbox to stand on and spout your views instead of a corpse.

[pros54]

06:36 AM on 09/29/2009

A proper healthcare system includes educating people that mental problems are same as physical illness and should not be stigmatised and people who have such problems encouraged to seek help. Even people who are very rich but feel stigmatised do not seek the help they need till it is too late.

[vinny]

02:08 AM on 09/29/2009

m0r0nic

[georgiegirl]

06:28 PM on 09/28/2009

My heart goes out to Anne and her family. No one knows the terrible pain she has gone through the last 15 years, and the guilt that followed her during that time. People say that time heals all wounds, but that is not always the case. She tried her very best to go on with her life, but the demons would not let her be. May she rest in peace, and may her family know that she had no other choice.

[Bozwellian]

09:01 AM on 09/30/2009

agree that may she rest in peace, but wrong to she had no other choice---but the choice was indeed hers to make. Sometimes, it REALLY is NOT worth trudging on, sometimes life IS really too overwhelming and be it there is NOTHING after last breath or be it there is something else after last earthly breath--some DO see that as THE best option rather than to continue in the constant misery of their present existence with no relief from what torments them. It IS the persons CHOICE--does not belong to another and likely another is unable to fully fanthom the totality of why that choice is made but that will not stop speculationaries !!!

[Ventoi]

05:48 PM on 09/28/2009

A strong nation will not lead with specific examples...
it will lead with general community announcements...
tv...radio...posters...

generic situations...
dealing with the phsyical strife..
the mental strife...
the spiritual and emotional strife
that sometimes cause these things.

A strong nation will not require people to seek PAID help...
it will not force teens and young people...or middle aged people and old people
to MARK themselves...
by seeking PAID help...

and it will not rely on tv/movies or pop culture...

it is EASY to do.