Murders of mother, son in Maple Shade remain a mystery

Nearly four months have passed without an arrest in the stabbing deaths of a Maple Shade woman and her 6-year-old son, eliciting concern from family friends that the investigation has hit a wall.

"I'm very surprised. The whole community is in shock that the investigation is taking so long," said Mohan Nannapaneni, who attended the joint funeral in early April for Sasikala Narra, 38, and her son, Anish, in India, where the Narras have family.

Nannapaneni said he worries that authorities have given up. The Burlington County Prosecutor's Office, which has sought assistance from the FBI, said Friday that investigators were still working on the case.

"This remains an ongoing and very active investigation, and because of our obligation to maintain the integrity of our efforts, there are many components of this case that cannot be discussed publicly at this time," said Joel Bewley, prosecutor's office spokesman. "However, I can say that we still do not believe that members of this family were targeted because of their Indian heritage."

What else may have caused someone to target the mother and son remains unknown. Bewley did not offer a specific motive, and the FBI did not return a call Friday.

Family friends said Narra and Anish had stab wounds to their faces and hands, and Nannapaneni said nothing was stolen from the family's unit at the Fox Meadow Apartments along Route 73.

That's where Narra's husband and Anish's father, Hanumantha Rao Narra, called 911 and said he had discovered the bodies after returning home from a work happy-hour party.

"They both have blood everywhere," Hanumantha Narra told the dispatchers, saying that the bodies were in a bed but that he had no idea what had happened and that he saw no weapons.

Hanumantha Narra did not return calls this week. Authorities said in late March that he was allowed to leave the United States to attend the funeral for his wife and son.

He and his wife both worked at Cognizant, a technology services company.

Authorities are asking ask that anyone with information on the slayings call Burlington County Central Communications at 609-265-7113.