On Christmas morning, while most families were celebrating, Melissa Carlton’s world shattered for the second time. Her daughter, Molly, was suddenly gone. The Arizona mother, known to many online as a voice of faith amid grief, had to share the unbearable news: her little girl had died, less than two years after the death of her older sister, Abigail.
“Our Molly Moo,” Carlton wrote on Instagram, her words heavy with shock. “On Christmas morning, our sweet Molly girl, and her big sister Abi were reunited.” That belief—that her daughters are together now—is the only thing holding her together. She described a family in trauma, exhausted and shaking, trying to understand a loss that makes no sense. “I am scared of what life looks like now for us,” she confessed to her followers.
The pain is layered with a haunting, tender detail. Carlton shared that just days before, as the family boarded a plane to Arizona, Molly leaned over to her brother, Harry. She told him she wanted to be with Abi. Through tears, Harry later told his mother, “She got what she wanted.” Molly had deeply missed her sister, often asking when Jesus would return so Abigail could come back.
In a follow-up post, Carlton provided a possible medical explanation, adding another layer of anguish to their story. Doctors now believe Molly may have had an undiagnosed genetic heart condition. They suspect the same condition might have affected 9-year-old Abigail, who died suddenly from what was originally thought to be sepsis less than two years ago. Because Molly’s passing happened under different circumstances, physicians were able to conduct more analysis and identify this new possibility.
Melissa Carlton has spent the last two years building an online community, openly sharing her family’s journey through grief after losing Abigail. Her Instagram became a place for raw reflections on motherhood, loss, and clinging to faith. Now, that community is holding her up as she faces the unimaginable. The comments are flooded with prayers and heartbreak, a digital embrace for a mother navigating every parent’s worst nightmare twice over.
The family has not shared Molly’s age, making the loss feel even more poignant. They are now left with devastating questions and a future they never imagined. Carlton has asked for continued prayers as they face the coming days, which will be filled with the harsh logistics that follow tragedy, all while their hearts are broken.
For now, the Carltons are leaning on their faith and the small, painful comfort of a Christmas morning reunion they never wanted. They are taking life one very small step at a time, mourning two bright lights gone too soon, and trying to find a way forward for the children who remain.
