'The South Shore has been through a lot': Local residents process string of tragedies

DUXBURY – Purple ribbons adorn trees, telephone poles, mailboxes and fence posts in Duxbury. They commemorate Lane Elizabeth Ladd, a 6-year-old girl who died of a sudden and brief illness in late December.

Less than a month later, tragedy struck the town again when first responders found two small children, Cora and Dawson Clancy, dead in their home and their brother, Callan, an infant, in critical condition. He later died at Boston Children's Hospital.

"The South Shore has been through a lot in the past couple of months," said the Rev. Bill Ferguson, of Duxbury's Pilgrim Church. He referenced the loss of Lane and the Clancy children, as well as the killings of Carl and Vicki Mattson in Marshfield and Ana Walshe in Cohasset.

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The Rev. Ferguson said communities search for answers in the wake of tragedy, but getting those answers is often impossible. He said people often ask what they can do to help.

"Their questions may not have answers. We help people walk with those questions," he said. "If people want to do good works, we try to channel that," he said. "It might not necessarily be towards the family," but toward agencies and organizations addressing mental health and other social needs.

Pastor Neil Eaton, of New Hope Chapel in Plymouth, said the impact of the Duxbury tragedy has been heavy on his congregation, which includes a first responder who was at the scene and others who work in public safety.

“It’s not just family and friends or people who were there who are struggling. It’s everyone in the community,” he said. “There is a lot of grace, but utter shock.”

The Rev. Eaton said his congregation and Glory of God South Shore − a monthly prayer meeting − both held prayer services for the Clancy family last Sunday.

“You see the impact everywhere,” he said. “People are choked up and crying, and most of them don’t even know the family. It’s an incredible amount of compassion and empathy."

Ana Walshe's disappearance in Cohasset, followed soon after by the killing of the three Clancy children in Duxbury, drew attention to the South Shore and rocked what are otherwise known as peaceful, quiet communities. Many residents, most of whom never met the victims, have found themselves struggling to process the news and think of ways to help. An online fundraiser created to support the children's father, Patrick Clancy, has raised $1 million and a makeshift memorial continues to grow outside the family's Duxbury home.

While out for a walk on the Powder Point Bridge, Duxbury resident and grandmother Linda Sjoberg said she has been thinking about what she and other community members can do. She said emergency systems for overwhelmed mothers need improvement.

Sjoberg suggested that senior centers could fill a void. Many seniors have the necessary time and experience nurturing children to offer assistance, she said.

"People think of seniors as needing resources, but we could be a resource where volunteers go out and help young mothers," she said.

Plymouth resident Richard Dower said he discussed the events with his church choir. While such calamities are "heart wrenching and disastrous" for the families involved, he said, they happen all over the country and the world.

"There's nothing special about the South Shore," he said. "People have a heightened sensitivity when it happens close to you. You're more likely to think about problems for families in general."

In Cohasset, investigators have conducted an extensive search for Ana Walshe, a 39-year-old mother of three who's been missing since New Year's Day. Her husband, Brian Walshe, 47, has been charged with murdering her, but no body has been recovered. Residents gathered on Cohasset Common days later to pray for Ana and process what happened.

"2023 has not been good," Cohasset Police Chief William Quigley said on a recent afternoon at the police station. "We enjoy broad support from the community and that doesn't go unnoticed. We review the comments on social media and well-wishes from everyone. People drop stuff off all the time and it really does make a difference. We really appreciate it. It goes to show that you just never know."

The Clancy children − Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months − died as the South Shore was still reeling from the Walshe case.

The children's mother, Lindsay Clancy, 32, was injured when she tried to kill herself by jumping out a second-floor window, Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz said.

Lindsay Clancy, who remains hospitalized, has been charged with homicide in the death of her children, as well as three counts each of strangulation and assault and battery with a deadly weapon. She will be arraigned Tuesday, Feb. 7 in Plymouth District Court.

The Clancy children's deaths prompted conversations about postpartum depression and psychosis as people across the region search for answers.

Serena Rosa, a nurse practitioner who has been working with postpartum mothers for more than a decade, said postpartum psychosis can bring hallucinations, suicidal ideations and intrusive thoughts.

"I've had patients explain that the intrusive thoughts make them believe they are the last person on Earth, make them believe that something terrible is happening, and therefore they need to end their children’s life in order to protect them, make them even forget that they are a mother to these children," she said. "It’s very difficult to understand what an intrusive thought is, but to a person experiencing intrusive thoughts, they are their reality."

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Kathleen Bambrick, director of training for Aspire Health Alliance, formerly South Shore Mental Health, said they’re hearing that people are struggling with the recent tragedies, and there has been an increase in demand for services like the disaster response team. The team meets with residents, officials and first responders after tragedies happen.

“Community members are searching for answers, and these events tap into their own anxieties or depression,” she said. “These are sort of normal reactions to abnormal experiences.”

With a bombardment of tragedies around them, Bambrick said many people can experience an “acute stress reaction” that comes on quickly.

“The belief that the world is a safe place is really shaken up if these things are happening in my backyard and in my community, and it’s hard to escape it in many ways,” she said. “It shakes up our sense of predictability and confidence.”

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Bambrick said some normal reactions range from lower energy and difficulty concentrating to feeling numb or restless, seeking out information to try to make sense of the situation and not wanting to be social.

“With these recent situations, there often is not one simple answer, so it’s really shaken people to their core,” she said.

Reach Jessica Trufant at jtrufant@patriotledger.com and Peter Blandino at pblandino@patriotledger.com.

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This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: South Shore residents left reeling after tragedies hit close to home