The New Jersey woman killed by her state cop ex-beau called local authorities about potentially getting a restraining order against him, according to a reported voicemail that wasn’t returned, her family’s lawyers revealed Tuesday.
The legal team for Lauren Semanchik’s family argued the beloved veterinarian would still be alive if several law enforcement agencies did their jobs leading up the Aug. 1 murder-suicide that left her and her new boyfriend Tyler Webb dead, as well as gunman Ricardo Santos after he turned the gun on himself.
“Their silence and sitting on their hands is shocking and we’re looking into whether or not there was some sort of conspiracy here and that they were protecting their own and ignoring Lauren’s complaints,” lawyer David Mazie told The Post.
Mazie and his colleague Beth Baldinger listed three police agencies they believe failed Semanchik, including state police, where Santos worked and Franklin Township department, where Semanchik went looking for help on the morning of May 20.
But when she showed up to her town’s police headquarters asking to speak to an officer, a woman at the desk said no one was available to help her at the time, the lawyer said.
She was instead given a card to call the department, which she did the same day.
“I was looking to file a police report or potentially even restraining order against my ex-boyfriend who has been harassing me,” she said on the call while adding her ex-boyfriend was a state trooper, according to the voicemail obtained by NJ.com.
“So I am especially uncomfortable … if you could give me a call back when you have a moment, that would be great,” she said.
The call for help went unanswered, said the lawyers, which has “outraged” her family.
“After the family heard Lauren’s voice and her message that she left for the Franklin police department, they knew she did everything right,” Baldinger said.
Since the murder-suicide, the Hunterdon County Prosecutor’s Office has assumed control of the Franklin police’s operations with its chief and a sergeant placed on leave.
A spokesperson for the prosecutor’s office declined to comment on the voicemail, pointing to an ongoing probe.
The slain woman’s family has said the trooper obsessively harassed and stalked Semanchik for months after the pair broke up in September 2024.
Mazie and Baldinger also took issue with the actions of a Washington Township police officer in Long Valley when she believed her car was keyed by Santos the day before her call to Franklin police.
Semanchik told the Washington town cop she believed Santos vandalized her vehicle, leading the officer to call Santos. The creepy ex denied any wrongdoing, and the local cop told him not to contact Semanchik going forward to defuse the situation.
“What police department picks up the phone and calls a domestic violence abuser and harasser and covers for their own this way,” Baldinger argued. “That’s not how these matters are handled.”
Semanchik also sought help from the officer, though she never mentioned a restraining order, according to more docs obtained by NJ.com.
“Lauren explained to me that she has been refraining from reporting the other ongoing issues she has had with Ricardo outside of this jurisdiction and inquired about what she should do next,” the officer wrote in his report, per the outlet.
“I advised Lauren that I was unable to provide her with any type of legal advice, but explained to her the process of reporting these separate incidents if she so wished.”
Washington Township police chief Jeffrey Almer referred comment to the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office.
Semanchik also reported Santos’ worrisome behavior to a colleague of his at the state police, though it’s unclear what steps were taken following that contact.
The family’s lawyers said the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office, which has purview over state police, and the two local departments are undertaking internal probes into their actions involving Semanchik and Santos.
The attorney general’s office said it won’t comment on the case until Hunterdon prosecutors finish their probe of the incident.
Mazie and Baldinger said the family could eventually take legal action against the state police and local authorities.
“That’s why we have the laws that we have, to protect victims of domestic violence and they ignored it,” Mazie said.
