A mother and her infant son were found dead on Dec. 15 in their family’s Fort Worth, Texas, home.
Shanna Riddle Vandewege, 36, and her 3-month-old son Diederik were found dead in their beds, the Star-Telegram reports.
A medical examiner determined the baby’s cause of death was a cut to his neck, and his death has been ruled a homicide.
How Shanna died has not yet been determined.
Shanna and her husband Craig welcomed Diederik in September.
“They tried so long to have a baby,” Mark Riddle, Shanna’s father, told WFAA. “She had three miscarriages prior to having one.”
Mark, who lives in Colorado, said Craig found Shanna and their baby boy dead when he came home from work.
“To the best I understand, he walked in, the house was all in disorder and walked in and found them both,” Mark said.
Police have not said whether their deaths were the result of a home invasion, but neighbors are concerned.
“It’s puzzling what happened,” neighbor Eric Tivnan said, adding that he and other neighbors are trying to figure out whether they should be concerned for their own safety.
“This is the first time I’ve even seen cops at the house,” Bradly DaLuz, who lives across the street, said.
“I wouldn’t have expected it here, lets put it that way,” he said.
Shanna and Craig moved to Fort Worth from Colorado earlier this year. She worked as a registered nurse and he at Costco.
“They picked out the neighborhood that they thought was one of the best neighborhoods they could find,” Mark told the Star-Telegram. “Apparently, it wasn’t.”
Police interviewed Craig and he was cooperative.
The investigation is ongoing and no one suspect is being looked at, but no one has been ruled out yet, WFAA reports.
“A new mother, a 3-month-old baby … why? Why kill them? There’s no reason,” Mark said.
Shanna, Craig and Diederik were supposed to visit Mark in Colorado for Christmas.
“She was just deeply loved,” Mark said of his daughter Shanna, the Star-Telegram reports.