--- description: Authorities are investigating the killings of a mother and her infant son after they were found in their beds night with their throats slit. title: Texas Mom and Infant Son Found Dead in Bed With Their Throats Slit image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4556eadf15da5ce3/6988b3ab8e0601416b468a66/shanna-riddle-vandewege.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Texas Mom and Infant Son Found Dead in Bed With Their Throats Slit by [Harriet Sokmensuer / People](/author/people/) ## Harriet Sokmensuer / People Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 21, 2016 3:18 PM CUT  GOFUNDME: Shanna, Diederik and Craig Vandewege GOFUNDME: Shanna, Diederik and Craig VandewegeGOFUNDME by [Harriet Sokmensuer / People](/author/people/) ## Harriet Sokmensuer / People Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 21, 2016 3:18 PM CUT Texas authorities are investigating the killings of a mother and her infant son after they were found in their beds Thursday night with their throats slit, PEOPLE confirms. The bodies of Shanna Riddle Vandewege, 36, and her 3-month-old son, Diederick, were found in their Fort Worth home. They died from having their “necks cut,” a Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s office spokeswoman tells PEOPLE. Their deaths were ruled homicides. Fort Worth police went to the family’s house after receiving a call from Saginaw police reporting a man had called after finding the woman and child dead, the _Fort Worth Star-Telegram_ [reports](http://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/community/fort-worth/article121547272.html "undefined"). Mark Riddle, Shanna’s father, told [ABC8 ](http://www.wfaa.com/news/crime/mom-baby-found-dead-in-fort-worth-home/371770213 "undefined")his daughter’s husband, Craig Vandewege, found his wife and son’s bodies after coming home from work. (Fort Worth police could not be reached by PEOPLE for comment.) Shanna was a registered nurse at a nearby hospital but was on maternity leave, the _Star-Telegram_ reports. She and Craig had recently moved from Denver, Colorado, to Texas according to a [GoFundMe](https://www.gofundme.com/shanna-diederik-vandewege "undefined") page started to help pay for funeral expenses. “They tried so long to have a baby,” Riddle told ABC8 of his daughter’s growing family. “She had three miscarriages prior to having one.” Police have not commented on a motive, the _Dallas Morning News_ [reports](http://www.dallasnews.com/news/fort-worth/2016/12/16/woman-baby-found-dead-bed-far-north-fort-worth-house-police-say "undefined"). No suspects have been named. “Shanna was a beautiful soul and a dedicated nurse and mother,” a friend wrote on the GoFundMe page. “All our thoughts and prayers are with Shanna’s family. There are no words to describe how much she will be missed and how difficult this time is.” _This_ [_article_](http://people.com/crime/texas-mom-and-infant-son-found-dead-in-bed-with-their-throats-slit/ "undefined") _originally appeared on_ [_People.com_](http://www.people.com "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4609064/fort-worth-mom-infant-son-dead/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4609064/fort-worth-mom-infant-son-dead/"},"headline":"Texas Mom and Infant Son Found Dead in Bed With Their Throats Slit","datePublished":"2016-12-21T15:18:03.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T02:25:33.039Z","description":"Their deaths were ruled a homicide","url":"https://time.com/4609064/fort-worth-mom-infant-son-dead/","keywords":["Texas","Crime","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4556eadf15da5ce3/6988b3ab8e0601416b468a66/shanna-riddle-vandewege.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Harriet Sokmensuer / People"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4556eadf15da5ce3/6988b3ab8e0601416b468a66/shanna-riddle-vandewege.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"shanna-riddle-vandewege","caption":"GOFUNDME: Shanna, Diederik and Craig Vandewege","creditText":"GOFUNDME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4609064/fort-worth-mom-infant-son-dead/","name":"Texas Mom and Infant Son Found Dead in Bed With Their Throats Slit"}}]}] ```