In the quiet neighborhood of Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, the life of a beloved 59-year-old woman, Wendy Feldman, was tragically cut short on the evening of December 7, 2022. A well-respected business owner and a cherished member of the community, Feldman was the proprietor of Spa Elysium and Fringe Salon, a business she had nurtured for over three decades.
That Wednesday night, in the parking lot behind her salon on Bethlehem Pike, a place of her own creation and success, her life came to a violent end.
Wendy, a White female, was discovered by police with a gunshot wound to her head and was pronounced dead at the scene. Alongside her was her 64-year-old estranged husband, Frank Hayden, also with a gunshot wound to the head. He was rushed to Temple University Hospital where he later succumbed to his injuries. The incident was swiftly determined by law enforcement to be a murder-suicide, with Hayden identified as the perpetrator.
At the time of the tragic event, Wendy and Frank were in the midst of divorce proceedings. Their vehicles were both found at the scene, registered to the same address in Montgomery County. The Philadelphia Police Department's Homicide Detectives Division investigated the case. However, with the suspect also deceased, the investigation was closed, and no arrests were made.
The community was left to mourn a woman described as a positive force, an entrepreneur with a hardworking spirit who was deeply involved in local events. Her generosity extended beyond her immediate community, as she was known to sponsor two young girls in Guatemala. Her untimely death sent shockwaves through Chestnut Hill, leaving behind a legacy of kindness and a successful business built from the ground up. In the wake of this tragedy, her sister temporarily took over the operations of the spa. A memorial service was held for Wendy on December 14, 2022, at St. Paul's Episcopal Church.
