A gentle and kind 16-year-old with a talent for making people feel special, Emma Rose Scoles was remembered for her sweet, caring spirit that left a lasting impression on everyone she met. The Bridgeport, Michigan, teen was born on May 15, 2010, and had attended Bridgeport-Spaulding Schools for most of her life before starting online learning in the fall of 2026. Family members said Emma, a female, had special needs.
Full of life, she had a curiosity about the world that she explored through social media, connecting with people and forming friendships across the globe.
Emma was an avid collector of Squishmallows and loved spending time online, where she maintained pen pal relationships with people from all over, including many close friends in Australia. She dreamed of one day traveling to the country she loved and often spoke of her hope to visit. Her ability to form friendships across great distances reflected her kind and open heart. Her family recalled her as a beloved, beautiful, and gentle sister and aunt who touched many lives in her short time.
On the morning of Thursday, September 24, 2026, a concerned family member went to the Indiana Street home where Emma lived with her 60-year-old father, Kevin Scoles. After finding the home locked and getting no answer, the relative made their way inside around 8 a.m. and made a devastating discovery. Both Emma and her father were found inside, each having suffered fatal gunshot wounds. The family member immediately called the police.
Bridgeport Township Police and investigators from the Saginaw County Medical Examiner’s Office responded to the scene. From the initial evidence, authorities quickly determined that the incident was a murder-suicide. Investigators concluded that Kevin Scoles had shot and killed his daughter before turning the gun on himself. Police assured the public that there was never any broader threat to the community. While Emma's body was discovered on September 24, her official date of death was listed as Tuesday, September 22, 2026. Autopsies were planned to confirm the cause of death for both individuals.
The family was left shattered by the tragedy. "We had no clue this was going to happen," relative Amber Manning told a local news station. "Emma was a precious 16-year-old girl and he had no right to take her life the way that he did." Manning added, "I have to keep saying this to myself, she is with her mother now." The family had already suffered another loss earlier that year with the death of Emma's three-year-old niece, Alexandra Gibelyou. In the wake of the tragedy, the anti-violence group HELP CVI (Community Violence Intervention) came to the neighborhood to offer support and comfort to the grieving family.
Emma was lovingly remembered by her sister, Trinity Scoles; a nephew; and her "bonus parents," Amber and James Manning, as well as many friends in her neighborhood and online. A funeral service was held on Monday, October 12, 2026, at the W. L. Case and Company Funeral Directors in Saginaw. A GoFundMe campaign was organized to help her family with the unexpected funeral and cremation expenses. The case is considered closed by law enforcement, as the sole suspect in Emma's death is also deceased.
