The household of an engineer discovered useless 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 demise.
Shane DeJongh, 53, was discovered useless 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.
Nonetheless, when his sister Robyn van Ekelenburg and different relations flew out from his dwelling state of California to view his physique, they instantly “knew one thing was improper.”
“He didn’t appear to be 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 mentioned.
After DeJongh’s post-mortem outcomes have been submitted, the household’s suspicions have been confirmed.
DeJongh’s official reason for demise 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 response to 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 response to the post-mortem.
A spokesperson for the workplace then dominated his demise a murder.
Nonetheless, since his demise, 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 evening,” 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In response to the withdrawn lawsuit, Vadasz, 51, listed her three-bedroom Cheshire dwelling — situated about 30 miles south of Hartford — on the market shortly earlier than DeJongh’s demise. The couple had been making ready to relocate to Georgia after he accepted a brand new job provide, in response to the Hartford Courant.
The evening DeJongh died, the couple went out to rejoice with their realtor earlier than relocating. He could be discovered useless in his mattress the subsequent morning in the identical garments he had on the evening earlier than.
Cheshire Police Chief Frederick J. Jortner mentioned officers responded to a report of an premature demise, 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 underneath the route of the New Haven State’s Legal professional’s Workplace, however declined to launch any further particulars “to protect the integrity of the investigation.”
Van Ekelenburg mentioned the household has acquired few updates from investigators and has solely pieced collectively restricted data 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 demise, however didn’t explicitly identify the individual.
“We don’t know what actually occurred that evening,” 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 evening.”
The DeJongh household lawyer, Kenneth Krayeske, confirmed that the swimsuit was withdrawn in order that DeJongh’s daughter, Zoey, might 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 energetic underneath the supervision of the New Haven State’s Legal professional’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 completely different genres, and taking part in for a lot of fundraiser occasions for the good thing about others,” in response to an internet obituary.
