Oct. 30 — New York State Police and State Parks Police conduct a grim search for the bodies of a Falls woman and her two young children after all three plunged to their apparent deaths in what investigators are calling a “intentional” incident. .”

State troopers, along with Park Police officers, were dispatched to Goat Island around 9 p.m. Monday to investigate eyewitness reports of a woman and two children going into the Niagara River rapids at the edge of the waterfall.

“This is a small area near the crest of the falls that we believe they entered,” Trooper James O’Callaghan, a state police public information officer, said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon. “The circumstances under which this happened, that’s the part we may or may not ever know. We won’t go into what the witnesses saw because it’s still an active case, but what they told us is alarming. “

O’Callaghan and other law enforcement sources also said the incident was captured on video surveillance cameras at the state park and near the falls.

Authorities identified the victims as Chaianti Means, 33, of Falls and her son Roman Rossman, 9, and daughter Mecca Means, 5 months.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Park Police drones and marine units were searching the lower Niagara River Gorge in an attempt to recover the victim’s remains. They were assisted by a State Police Underwater Recovery Unit and helicopter.

Falls police also assisted in the investigation.

“We started with the little information we had and through the night and (Tuesday) came to the conclusion that a 33-year-old mother and a 9-year-old son and a five-month-old baby all went over the falls,” he said. O’Callaghan said. “We believe this is intentional, but the circumstances of what actually happened are under investigation. They certainly went there that night and none of them came back. Because of the information, we know it was an intentional act, but the reason is a tougher response.”

O’Callaghan said investigators believe Rossman went into the water first. He said afterward, “it was a ripple effect.”

The policeman said the five-month-old then entered the water, followed by her mother. Asked if Means had gone after the children, O’Callaghan bluntly said: “No, we think that was intentional.”

Investigators said Means and the children climbed over a 3- to 4-foot safety railing to enter the water.

“It’s not so much the height but the terrain is very deadly,” O’Callaghan said.

He said detectives from the State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation conducted a thorough investigation into the incident.

“We had to get the families involved, the schools. We had to get a lot of information,” O’Callaghan said. “The raiders need to go through some houses to see if we can get some information, any kind of pre-plan.”

A State Police spokesman said the fathers of both of Means’ children were “very cooperative.”

“Very eager to us with information,” O’Callaghan said. “Because of that, we were able to speed this up quite a bit in our investigation.”

Investigators said they are still looking into whether mental health issues may have played a role in the incident. O’Callaghan said no criminal charges are anticipated as a result of the state police investigation.

Maj. James Hi, commander of the Western New York Police Department, said his officers will remain focused on recovery efforts.

“Our Swift Water Rescue team is in the gorge on water in areas where they can,” Hi said. “In the basin immediately below the falls, we are able to put a vessel there and further down the river around Fort Niagara. Up to Power Vista we look for water and shores. Our hearts go out to the family.

“A lot of the people who work on it have kids at home, so it’s home.”