The household of an engineer discovered lifeless with “no neck” in a quaint Connecticut cottage he shared together with his girlfriend continues to be trying to find solutions two years after his loss of life.
Shane DeJongh, 53, was discovered lifeless in his Cheshire dwelling on Oct. 6, 2023, from what investigators initially believed was introduced on by a “coronary heart assault,” the Hartford Courant reported.
Nevertheless, when his sister Robyn van Ekelenburg and different members of the family flew out from his dwelling state of California to view his physique, they instantly “knew one thing was improper.”
“He didn’t appear like he had had a neck,” van Ekelenburg informed the outlet. “And we didn’t know at that time, however we knew sufficient to know there’s one thing improper together with his neck. It was like he had no neck. I can’t even clarify it.”
The grieving sister — who was named the administrator of her brother’s property — suspected foul play was concerned and began gathering proof to show DeJongh didn’t die of pure causes like authorities had stated.
After DeJongh’s post-mortem outcomes had been submitted, the household’s suspicions had been confirmed.
DeJongh’s official explanation for loss of life was listed as “cardiac arrhythmia following bodily altercation with blunt accidents of head and neck, complicating hypertensive and atherosclerotic heart problems,” the Connecticut Workplace of the Chief Medical Examiner confirmed, in keeping with the Hartford Courant.
DeJongh additionally suffered bruising, a left ear abrasion, and a mind bleed, together with a neck hemorrhage and a perimortem fracture on his “left superior cornu of the thyroid cartilage,” in keeping with the post-mortem.
A spokesperson for the workplace then dominated his loss of life a murder.
Nevertheless, since his loss of life, the engineering supervisor’s household nonetheless has not gotten any solutions to what occurred.
“We knew at that time one thing actually did occur that night time,” van Ekelenburg informed the outlet.
In March, the household sued DeJongh’s girlfriend, Natasha Vadasz, however withdrew the case final week to revise the grievance and add a further defendant and plaintiff.
In response to the withdrawn lawsuit, Vadasz, 51, listed her three-bedroom Cheshire dwelling — situated about 30 miles south of Hartford — on the market shortly earlier than DeJongh’s loss of life. The couple had been getting ready to relocate to Georgia after he accepted a brand new job supply, in keeping with the Hartford Courant.
The night time DeJongh died, the couple went out to have a good time with their realtor earlier than relocating. He can be discovered lifeless in his mattress the following morning in the identical garments he had on the night time earlier than.
Cheshire Police Chief Frederick J. Jortner stated officers responded to a report of an premature loss of life, after which detectives took over the case with assist from state police main crimes investigators and the health worker.
Jortner revealed that the investigation has included a number of interviews and intensive forensic work and is being led beneath the path of the New Haven State’s Lawyer’s Workplace, however declined to launch any extra particulars “to protect the integrity of the investigation.”
Van Ekelenburg stated the household has acquired few updates from investigators and has solely pieced collectively restricted info from Vadasz earlier than she bought the cottage in March and relocated to North Carolina along with her son.
DeJongh’s sister claims that the household has their suspicions of who was behind his loss of life, however didn’t explicitly identify the individual.
“We don’t know what actually occurred that night time,” van Ekelenburg informed the outlet. “It’s like attempting to place a puzzle collectively with out all of the items. However regardless of the case is, Shane was the one one with accidents that night time.”
The DeJongh household legal professional, Kenneth Krayeske, confirmed that the swimsuit was withdrawn in order that DeJongh’s daughter, Zoey, could possibly be added as a plaintiff. One other defendant was added to the swimsuit, however Krayeske didn’t share their identify.
As of late 2025, no arrests have been made, and the investigation stays lively beneath the supervision of the New Haven State’s Lawyer’s Workplace.
DeJongh grew up in San Jose and moved to Connecticut in 2020 after accepting a place with APCT, Inc., a circuit board producer primarily based in Wallingford.
He’s remembered as having a “robust work ethic” and as “an completed musician, writing and composing a lot of his personal songs of a number of totally different genres, and taking part in for a lot of fundraiser occasions for the advantage of others,” in keeping with a web-based obituary.
