Authorities: Man sent letters before car blast that killed 3

ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) — Investigators are expected to reveal the cause of a car explosion in Allentown, Pennsylvania, that killed three people, including a father and his toddler son.

Officials with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are holding a news conference Thursday with prosecutors and Allentown police. They’re expected to discuss the contents of letters that 26-year-old Jacob Schmoyer sent before the weekend blast that killed Schmoyer, his 2-year-old son Jonathan “JJ” Schmoyer and a friend, 66-year-old David Hillman.

The explosion scattered debris and body parts over several city blocks.

Schmoyer’s grandmother, Kathleen Pond, told WFMZ she received a letter. She did not reveal what he wrote, but told the station: “Maybe in my heart I knew he would do it to himself, but never to JJ.”