Members of the Morris County Sheriff’s Office and Chester Township Police Department have been seen at the home Brooke Hanlon shared with her husband, James “Conor” Hanlon, in the past 24 hours

NEED TO KNOW

It has been five months since Brooke Hanlon was fatally stabbed to death in her New Jersey home, and authorities have still not identified a suspect in the case.

But on Thursday, Nov. 5, members of the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office (MCPO), Morris County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) and Chester Township Police Department (CTPD) were gathered outside the home Brooke shared with her husband James “Conor” Hanlon and their infant daughter.

PEOPLE was on the scene as multiple investigators were seen around the property and a row of unmarked cars lined the road in both directions.

There was also a CTPD truck and a wagon from the MCSO at the scene, as well as Conor’s SUV parked in the driveway outside the residence.A neighbor told PEOPLE she first noticed the presence of investigators while driving by the home shortly after 4 p.m. Wednesday. She noted that even after the scene cleared out later in the day, the CTPD truck remained in the driveway.

It is unclear why investigators from all three agencies were at the home or why a police officer was still stationed outside almost 24 hours later.

When asked by PEOPLE if they were executing a search warrant, investigators declined to comment.

The MCPO also declined to comment on the investigation, while the MCSO and CTPD did not respond to PEOPLE’s requests.

Brooke, 35, was stabbed to death inside her home on June 6, and officials have yet to name a suspect or person of interest in the case.

The psychotherapist and new mom had just welcomed her first child — a daughter — 11 months before her death.

She was covered in blood when her husband Conor found her in the bedroom of their home in Chester, an affluent New Jersey enclave located just outside New York City.

Her cause of death was later determined to be “sharp force injuries,” according to a copy of her autopsy report obtained by PEOPLE; the manner of death was listed as homicide.

John W. Day, a criminal defense attorney and former Deputy District Attorney in northern New Mexico who is not involved in the case, previously explained to PEOPLE that the lack of comment from officials does not necessarily mean a lack of progress.

“A lot of times in investigations like this, if there’s a lack of information, it could be because there’s specific facts that investigators don’t want out,” Day told PEOPLE. “And the point of that would be that if there’s information about the actual killing, clues, evidence, if that information gets to the suspect then stories can change, evidence can get destroyed, things can happen that would effect the prosecution.”

He explained that this can put officials in a somewhat precarious position prior to making an arrest in a case, and make them far less inclined to comment on the investigation.

“A lot of times, it’s a smart, investigative move to limit information that’s going out, and a district attorney has to sort of balance the obligation to keep the community informed, and also the idea that they need to protect the integrity of an investigation,” Day said.

Brooke had grown up in Chester before leaving to attend college at Wake Forest. She then headed north to Northeastern University for her post-graduate studies.

It was while she was in Boston working towards her Master of Science in Counseling Psychology that she met Conor, and the two would spend the next decade together in Boston.

The couple wed in 2021, and then moved to New Jersey in 2024 after buying their home in Chester, just a few miles away from Brooke’s childhood home where her parents still live.

Their daughter Avery was born the following year in July 2025.

Friends and family remembered Brooke in her obituary as a “gift from God” and “a truly loving wife” who later became “an extraordinary mother to her darling Avery.” That bond with her daughter “was spiritual, holy, and will be everlasting.”

She was also known for her “extraordinary kindness, friendship, loyalty, empathy, compassion, humility, generosity,” as well as her “passionate desire to help and support family, friends, and all those she counseled.”