NEW BEDFORD — Four years after his girlfriend went missing, George C. Scott III is believed to have killed their 8-year-old son and then killed himself, authorities say.
Police discovered the apparent murder-suicide on Friday morning during a wellness check at the the man’s home on Phillips Road. George C. Scott III, 53, and his son Dante Hazard died of injuries from a sharp object, a Bristol County district attorney spokesperson said, though authorities were still waiting on confirmation from the medical examiner.
Authorities confirmed that the boy’s mother was Lisa Hazard, Scott’s girlfriend who went missing in March 2019. She was last seen at Scott’s house, where their son was living, and Scott was a person of interest in the disappearance. Police had searched the house and surrounding area two weeks ago.
On Friday afternoon, the street in front of the house was blocked off by caution tape. A news helicopter droned overhead and police in polos redirected traffic. A neighbor watching the scene said she didn’t know the family, but she was saddened by the news.
During the police search two weeks ago, she approached one of the officers who had been searching the property with a police dog.
“Did you find what you were looking for?’” she recalled asking, but the officer shook his head, no.
Hazard was 28 years old and lived in Fall River when she disappeared, according to the Bristol County district attorney. Her family thought she was headed to a drug rehabilitation center when she left Scott’s house on March 3, 2019, but she was never seen again. Her disappearance wasn’t reported for a month because the family thought she was in treatment. The case remains unsolved.
Email Grace Ferguson at gferguson@newbedfordlight.org
