An upstate New York woman who was found with her two children and lover, all bound and dead with their throats slit according to news reports, had lived in Charlotte in recent years, public records show.

A property manager found the bodies of Shanta Myers, 36, her children Jeremiah Myers, 11, and Shanise Myers, 5, and Myers’ partner, Brandi Mells, 22, Tuesday in a basement apartment along the Hudson River in Troy, N.Y.

Police Chief John Tedesco said he has “never seen savagery like this” in his 42 years in law enforcement, the Associated Press reported. No suspect has been publicly identified.

Shanta Myers had lived in several apartments in Charlotte in the 2000s, records show. News accounts quote Facebook posts that say the father of Myers’ children – one son was away from home and survived – lives in Charlotte but do not identify him.

Myers’ sister, Shakera Symes, told Spectrum News in Albany that she’s now raising the woman’s only remaining son, AP reported. Symes said Myers’ older son has been living with her for about two months. She says she last spoke with her sister last week.

The Rev. Jackie Robinson of the African American Pastoral Alliance in Troy said Shanta Myers and her children were much loved and respected in the neighborhood. He said Myers had worked as a bus monitor and her children were active in youth programs.

Children at the youth center where Jeremiah played basketball were distraught and crying over news of the killings, Robinson said, and community members are nervous because the killer remains at large.