DANIELLE JACOBSEN - 17 yo - Newtown (E of Danbury) CT

Newtown CT ---- Police plan to search several cars and examine some cell phones as
part of their probe into the death of a 17-year-old Newtown High School senior
whose body was found Sunday morning floating in a pond near the
condo complex where she was last seen.
Reports that police had identified a suspect and applied
for an arrest warrant in the death of Danielle
Jacobsen, an honor student set to graduate in a few weeks, were
untrue, said Monroe Police Lt. Brian
McCauley.
Although police hadn't identified any suspects as of Tuesday evening
and are still calling Jacobsen's death an `untimely death' -- not a
homicide -- it appears the death was not due to a simple drowning,
McCauley said.


On Sunday night, police executed a search warrant in a home at the
corner of a condominium community at Still Meadow Circle and Northbrook
Drive, off Route 25. It was there that Jacobsen was last seen, at a
gathering of a few people. Police are working to determine the nature of
that gathering, as well as the identity of everyone who was there,
he said.
McCauley said Monroe police, with help from Newtown and Trumbull
police and the state attorney's office in Bridgeport, were looking into
everyone involved in the last hours of Jacobsen's life, while awaiting
the results of toxicological tests conducted by the state Office of the
Chief Medical Examiner.
They had not ruled out drugs or alcohol as contributing factors, and
were seeking several search warrants for vehicles she may have ridden
in, cell phones and cell phone records, McCauley said. He declined to
elaborate Tuesday evening, saying the warrants were pending
court approval.
Police are probing "all the facts, which would include drug use and
not necessarily underage (drug use)," he said. "A lot of this we find
out when we get the results from the M.E. At this point, we're still
calling it an `untimely death.' It is a large-scale investigation ... to
determine whether and if there will be any criminal charges applied.
We're not leaving any stone unturned."
An initial autopsy by the chief medical examiner's office could not
determine the cause of death, according to an office spokeswoman.
"It's pending further studies," another spokeswoman said. "They
couldn't tell what caused her death so they will have to do all sorts of
other tests," including a toxicology report. She said the results will
take between eight and 12 weeks.
McCauley said police were pushing for the quickest possible testing
turnaround, hoping to solve the case soon out of consideration for the
teen's family.
Jacobsen, of Tunnel Road in Newtown, was reported missing to police
Sunday after she failed to return home from a late night gathering in
the Northbrook condominium community. Her body was found floating in a
nearby pond that morning.
The pond is on Northbrook Drive, about 20 yards from the intersection
with Route 25, just north of Stepney Hardware.
Jacobsen, who leaves behind a mother and a younger sister, was
recalled fondly Tuesday by family, close friends, and classmates.
Jacobsen's sister said she was "the best big sister ever" and her
mother said she was "a very wonderful child." They did not want to
disclose their names, and made their comments through a family friend, Ora
Scalamandre.
Jacobsen's father passed away three years ago, Scalamandre said in a
telephone interview from Jacobsen's home Tuesday afternoon.
Scalamandre described the 17-year-old as "bubbly and outgoing."
"She loved to swim, she loved fashion, she loved shoes," Scalamandre,
of Dutchess County, N.Y., said. "She loved running with her sister. She
had gone running with her sister that afternoon. They were getting
ready for their bathing suits."
Jacobsen would have turned 18 in July, and she planned to go to
Florida to celebrate with her family, Scalamandre said.
The graduating senior planned to attend the Connecticut Center for
Massage Therapy, in Westport, Scalamandre said."She was funny, outgoing and a lot of fun to be around," Scalamandre
said. "And she made amazing brownies."
A woman who identified herself as Jacobsen's aunt, said earlier on
Tuesday that "Danielle will be dearly missed and we love her." The aunt,
who gave her first name as Teresa, said, "She was loving, open
and determined."
Jacobsen was a member of the high school's alternative education
program, known as TAP (The Afternoon Program).
"It's a response to intervention, one of the responses (the school
has) for students to whom it's not working out during the day program," Newtown
High School Principal Chip
Dumais said Tuesday. "For some kids it's academic, for some it's
attendance, social, (or) emotional."
Dumais said there are between 20 and 25 students in the program.
"She was close to those students in that program, my expectation is
that it's more difficult when you've had that kind of relationship," Newtown
Schools Superintendent Janet
Robinson said Tuesday evening.
Jacobsen's death is also hitting the senior class hard. None of the
four interviewed for this story are students in the alternative
education program.
"I think everybody is still taking in what happened," said Michelle
Margait, a junior. "I don't think anyone really wants to talk about
it, but there's a lot of talk around school -- (it's been) a shock
to people."
"It's kind of hard to deal with. It puts everything into
perspective," said Meghan
Bridges, a senior. "She was just about to graduate -- I'm just
about to graduate."
Jose Minchala, another senior, recounted seeing Jacobsen coming into
school for TAP classes as he was leaving school.
"It's crazy cause it's a moment of happiness when you're about to
graduate -- it kind of throws you and sets you off," Minchala said.
"She's part of my frame, she's part of my class, she was always around,
but I guess you got to live on."
Robinson said grievance counselors will be available for students and
staff throughout the week.
"We're going to keep things as normal as possible," she said. "It's
very sad, someone 17 hasn't even really had the chance to live."

Parents and students at Newtown High School are returning from the long
weekend with heavy hearts. They are remembering 17-year-old Danielle
Jacobson, a senior who was set to graduate in a few weeks. Instead, her
family is preparing for a funeral after the teen was found dead in a
pond in Monroe on Sunday morning.Student Colleen Carrol said,
"She was really sweet. I mean, she really connected with everyone else.
She was a really nice girl."Jacobson's body was found floating
in a Monroe pond Sunday morning.Police said Jacobsen, of Newtown,
was reported missing Sunday morning after her mother said she never
returned home from a party. Police said the girl's last known location
was the area of Northbrook Drive in Monroe.Police said Jacobsen,
who was about to graduate from high school, went to a party Saturday
night and never returned home. Jacobsen's friends told investigators
that she left the party after midnight and went outside, police said.
Monroe police said no one became concerned until several hours later.Monroe
police said shortly after, a passer-by reported seeing something
floating in a nearby pond. Police said the body was identified to be
that of the missing teen.Jacobsen was a senior at Newtown High
School. She received high honors at the school this month. Her friends
told Eyewitness News that Jacobsen was getting her life together after
the death of her father two years ago. She received high honors at the
school this month.Police said they are hoping an autopsy will
provide some answers in the teen's death, such as if she had been
drinking before her death. Police said if Jacobsen had been drinking,
they will look into who provided her with the alcohol.

A man identified by two court sources as acquainted with
the Newtown
High School senior who was found dead in a Monroe pond Sunday
morning was arraigned Wednesday on charges of carrying a pistol without a
permit, after telling police he wanted to kill himself, according to
court documents.
Quentin Ham, 22, of North Richland Hills, Texas, is being held on
$20,000 bond on charges of carrying a pistol without a permit,
second-degree reckless endangerment and second-degree breach of peace.
The family of 17-year-old Danielle
Jacobsen said that Ham was not Jacobsen's boyfriend and there was
no "relationship whatsoever," said Nicholas
Mazzo, speaking on behalf of the teen's family.
Jacobsen was reported missing to police Sunday after she failed to
return home from a late-night gathering in the Northbrook condominium
complex in Monroe. Her body was found floating in a nearby pond
that morning.
A cause of death has not yet been determined.
At about 5:20 p.m. Sunday,
Newtown police said they encountered Ham in a field near the Big Y
shopping center on Main Street in Newtown, Police Lt. George
Sinko said Wednesday.
A friend had called Newtown police saying Ham fled behind the
supermarket after threatening to shoot himself, according to the arrest
warrant affidavit. The father of the friend said Wednesday night that
Ham was upset about "what happened this weekend."
Ham told police he put a .357-caliber Ruger revolver next to a tree,
where he also unloaded some bullets. Police recovered the silver
revolver, four rounds and a black suede holster, according to
court documents.
"Ham stated that he pulled the trigger in an attempt to kill himself
but that it must have misfired," according to the affidavit. "Ham said
that he was at first ecstatic that his head (wasn't) blown off' but
that his joy turned to misery as he saw the police coming."
Ham posted on his Facebook page two pictures of a gun he identified
as a .357-caliber Ruger, which he said be borrowed from his father.
Ham was arraigned Wednesday at Danbury
Hospital, where he was taken for emergency evaluation, after he was
processed at Newtown police headquarters Sunday evening.
Sinko said Ham is in state custody.
To be released from custody, Ham would have to report to the Alternative
Incarceration Center, submit to random urine tests and undergo
psychological treatment, in addition to posting $20,000 bond, according
to the special bond conditions set Wednesday by Judge Robin
Pavia.
Ham has a record of convictions for motor vehicle, misdemeanor and
drunken driving charges for incidents in Newtown, Danbury and Watertown
dating to 2006, according to state Superior
Court records.
He was fined $50 for driving with an improper marker plate in Newtown
in March 2006, received a 90-day suspended sentence for second-degree
criminal mischief in Newtown in May 2006, served two days in jail for
drunken driving in Danbury in March 2008, and received a 90-day
suspended sentence after being stopped for operating under suspension in
Watertown in May 2008.

Steve
Orrico, a graduate of Newtown
High School, was at a get-together with several other youths where
17-year-old Danielle
Jacobsen was last seen, his lawyer, Mark
Sherman, confirmed Thursday.
"He has cooperated with authorities," Sherman said. "Out of respect
for the privacy of all the families involved, it would be inappropriate
to make further comment."
According to Orrico's Facebook page, he graduated from Newtown High
School in 2007. Orrico lives in Sandy Hook, Sherman said.
Jacobsen was reported missing to police Sunday, after she failed to
return home Saturday night. Police found her body Sunday morning,
floating in a pond on Northbrook Drive, about 20 yards from the
intersection with Route 25, just north of Stepney Hardware.
Jacobsen was last seen Saturday about 4 p.m. in Garrett
O'Connor's condominium on Northbrook Drive in Monroe, according to a
girl who identified herself as the victim's best friend.
O'Connor is from Newtown, according to his Facebook page.
Although police hadn't identified any suspects as of Thursday morning
and are still calling Jacobsen's death an "untimely death" -- not a
homicide -- it appears the death was not due to a simple drowning,
Monroe Police Lt. Brian
McCauley said.
An initial autopsy done by the chief medical examiner's office was
inconclusive, according to an office spokeswoman. Further tests, which
officials say could take between eight and 12 weeks, will include
toxicology results.
Friends of Jacobsen's family are devastated about the loss of a girl
they say was very much looking forward to graduating from high school in
a couple of weeks.
Danielle Jacobsen is described by those who knew her as a wonderful,
caring person who would go out of her way to help anyone.
"Danielle was a very warm person and my wife, Carol, and I will miss
not having her give us a big kiss and hug when we stop by the house to
see the family," friend Nicholas
Mazzo Sr. said Thursday.
After graduation she planned to attend the Connecticut Center for
Massage Therapy in Westport, according to Ora
Scalamandre, another family friend.
"I took Danielle out driving the day after she got her learner's
permit last month and she was an absolute chatterbox on how happy she
was she had gotten her life back on track and made the honor roll after
the loss of her dad," Mazzo said.
Jacobsen's father died two years ago, according to Scalamandre. Since
his death, Jacobsen was enrolled in Newtown High School's TAP (The
Afternoon Program).
TAP is an alternative education program for students who need extra
attention, school officials said.
Jacobsen, who was a senior at Newtown High School, is survived by her
mother and a sister who is in eighth grade at Newtown
Middle School.
"I told her to call me if she ever needed me, Mazzo said, "and she
told me `not to worry, I know karate.'"
Scalamandre described her as "bubbly and outgoing."
Jacobsen would have turned 18 in July, and she planned to go to
Florida to celebrate with her family, Scalamandre said.
"She loved to swim, she loved fashion, she loved shoes," said
Scalamandre, a resident of Dutchess County, N.Y. "She loved running with
her sister. She had gone running with her sister that afternoon. They
were getting ready for their bathing suits."

The investigation into what police are calling the "untimely death"
of 17-year-old Danielle
Jacobsen continued Friday.
Police have not identified any suspects, but Monroe Police Lt. Brian
McCauley said it appears the death was not due to a
simple drowning.
Jacobsen was reported missing to Newtown police Sunday morning, after
she failed to return home Saturday night. Police found her body Sunday
morning, floating in a pond on Northbrook Drive in Monroe, off
Route 25.
Jacobsen was last seen about 4 p.m. Saturday, according to a girl who
identified herself as the victim's best friend. The girl said she
received a phone call from Steve Orricio, a 2007 Newtown
High School graduate, about 4:20 p.m. and he told her Jacobsen
disappeared from a party they both attended.
Orricio's lawyer, Mark
Sherman, confirmed Orricio was at Garrett
O'Connor's condominium on Northbrook Drive in Monroe with several
other youths Saturday, where Jacobsen was last seen.
An initial autopsy done by the state's chief medical examiner's
office was inconclusive, according to an office spokeswoman. Further
tests, which officials say could take between eight and 12 weeks, will
include toxicology results.

A former Newtown man has been charged with supplying a hallucinogenic
drug to a 17-year-old Newtown resident whose body was found in a pond
May 30.



Quentin Ham, 22, most recently of Texas,
allegedly gave a drug known as "DMT" to Danielle Jacobsen at a
gathering at 1 Still Meadow Circle in the Northbrook Condominiums, near
the pond, the night before her body was found, police said.
He was charged Monday with distribution of a hallucinogenic substance,
police said. Investigators learned the drug had been transported from
Texas, police said.
Ham was already in state custody at the time of Monday's arrest. At 5:20
p.m. on May 30, the day Jacobsen was found, police responded to a
report of a suicidal person and found Ham with a handgun in a field
behind the Big Y supermarket on Queen Street, Newtown Sgt. Aaron
Bahamonde said.
Police charged Ham with carrying a pistol without a permit, reckless
endangerment and breach of peace, Bahamonde said. There was no evidence
he had fired the gun, he said.
Ham was transported to Danbury
Hospital for an evaluation, after which he was taken to court. His bail
in that case was set at $20,000. His bail in the drug case was
initially set at $200,000.
Jacobsen, of Tunnel Road in Newtown, had been reported missing by her
family the day her body was found. Monroe police said they continue to
investigate her death and that there may be more charges.
Autopsy results are pending.
DMT, formally called N,N-Dimethyltryptamine, is a psychedelic drug that
can cause hallucinations if smoked or injected. It generally doesn't
cause hallucinations if ingested orally unless it is taken with another
drug, according to the Office
of National Drug Control Policy.
On a Facebook
page dedicated in memory of Jacobsen, friends wrote that they would
miss her "outspoken" and "unique" personality and her "crazy stories."
"It was really easy for her to just light up a room when she came in,"
Jacobsen's friend Jacqui Bonadio said. "Her joking around was the only
thing people looked forward to in chemistry class."
Bonadio said she was close friends with Jacobsen before Bonadio left
Newtown High School for boarding school in 2008.
"The reality has been setting in. I talked to her in March, just seeing
how she was," Bonadio said. "She was just enjoying her last year in high
school."
Jacobsen was the type of friend people could depend on, Bonadio said.
"She definitely left her mark in my life… Danielle was definitely a
treasure that has touched numerous lives in this town, and she will
always be in people's thoughts and prayers."

An investigation into the death of Danielle
Jacobsen, the Newtown teen whose body was found floating in a
Monroe pond last week, determined that Jacobsen had ingested a
hallucinogenic substance know as DMT, Monroe police Lt. Brian H.
McCauley said Monday.
Jacobsen, 17, apparently was given the substance at a Memorial Day
weekend gathering in a condominium near the pond where her body was
found, police said.
"It's an extreme surprise," Jacobsen's mother, Francesca Jacobsen, said Monday. "It was not something my daughter would have
done on her own. I don't know how that would happen."
It was further determined that former Newtown resident Quentin
Ham, 22, who now lives in Texas, was the person who distributed the
DMT to people at the condominium, McCauley said.
On Monday, after an investigation indicated the drug had been
transported from Texas and distributed by Ham, police arrested him on a
warrant for distribution of hallucinogenic substance, according to
McCauley. His bond was set at $200,000, and he was turned over to the Department
of Corrections.
Newtown police charged Ham last week with carrying a pistol without a
permit, second-degree reckless endangerment and second-degree breach of
peace after he told Newtown police he tried to kill himself in a field
near the Big Y in Newtown, according to police records.
Ham told police at the time that he put a .357-caliber Ruger revolver
next to a tree, where he also unloaded some bullets, police said.
A friend of Ham's called police to alert them that Ham was
threatening to shoot himself, police said. The father of the friend said
Ham was upset about "what happened this weekend."
Monroe police are continuing their investigation and more charges may
be forthcoming, McCauley said Monday.

Family and friends will gather Wednesday at noon to grieve the loss
of Danielle Jacobsen, the 17-year-old who was found dead early
last week.
A mass of Christian burial will be at St. Rose of Lima
Church, located at 46 Church Hill Road.
Jacobsen was born in White Plains, on July 18, 1992 to Francesca
(Eturaspe) Jacobsen of Newtown and the late Scott Jacobsen. She grew up
in Elmsford, N.Y., until moving to Newtown two and a half years ago.
According to her obituary, she loved swimming, shopping -- especially
for shoes and makeup, and traveling. She also enjoyed baking.
She is survived by her mother Francesca (Eturaspe) Jacobsen, her
younger sister Alexanna
Jacobsen, her maternal grandparents, David and Grace Eturaspe and
aunt Teresa Eturaspe, all of Newtown.
"On or about May 29th, just two weeks before her graduation, Danielle's
life was tragically cut short by a chain of events which has shocked
and devastated the entire family," according to a statement from
the family.
Jacobsen was reported missing May 30 by her grandmother, who said she
might have gone with friends to the Northbrook condominium complex in
Monroe, according to an arrest warrant. She was found dead later that
morning floating near the edge of a pond, according to police.
"No words can express our pain and sorrow and how much Danielle will
forever be missed," the statement from the family said.

A Connecticut man has pleaded not guilty to allegations he gave a
hallucinogenic drug to a 17-year-old girl who was later found dead in a
pond.



Twenty-two-year-old Quentin Ham of Newtown entered the
pleas to two drug distribution charges at Bridgeport Superior Court on
Tuesday. A judge continued the case to July 13. Police say Ham
gave a hallucinogenic substance known as DMT to 17-year-old Danielle
Jacobsen of Newtown and others who attended a party in Monroe the night
of May 29. Jacobsen's body was found in a nearby pond the next
day. Authorities say she had DMT in her system. Newtown police
say they arrested Ham on May 30 after stopping him from shooting
himself. Ham's lawyer, Joseph DaSilva, declined to comment
Tuesday.

The death of a 17-year-old Newtown girl found floating in a Monroe
pond on Memorial Day weekend has been ruled an accidental drowning,
according to police.
Danielle Jacobsen, 17, was found by authorities May 30 floating in 3
feet of water in a pond near the Northbrook condominium complex in
Monroe, where authorities said she had attended a party earlier
that weekend.
According to Monroe Police Capt. Michael Flick,
officials with the state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner listed
Jacobsen's cause of death this week as accidental drowning, although
dimethyltryptamine, a drug also known as DMT, was found to be a
"contributing factor," Flick said.
Flick added that after consultation with the state's attorney's office, no additional charges will be filed against Quentin Ham,
22, of Newtown, who is accused of supplying DMT, a hallucinogenic more
powerful than LSD, to the girl during a party at a Stillmeadow Circle
condo May 29.
Police said Jacobsen had been at the condo unit with Ham and four
other young men when Ham dumped a yellow powdery substance onto the
dining room table.
According to authorities, Jacobsen appeared agitated after snorting
the drug and asked how long the effects would last. She then left the
condo, complaining she was going to vomit, and did not return.
Flick said because the drug is so new, forensic experts are unable to
determine its effects on the human body at certain levels. He added the
case will be inactive, pending new information.
The girl's mother, Francesca Jacobsen, said Tuesday she "still has a lot of unanswered questions."
"It's totally unfair that just because they don't know everything
about the drug, they are ruling out more charges," she said. "She
(Danielle) was a water baby. She wouldn't have drowned."
Francesca Jacobsen added that while she doesn't think Ham is totally
to blame for her daughter's death, she believes "something went terribly
wrong and nobody helped her."
Liz Jorgenson, a counselor with Insight Counseling of Ridgefield,
said the use of DMT in this area is relatively rare, although she did
hear reports of limited use of the drug around the time of
Jacobsen's death.
She added that, like many hallucinogenics, it is difficult to
overdose on the drug, but it can alter reality to a point that a user
might believe the laws of physics no longer apply.
While the drug has several dangers, including psychotic episodes,
people can also take "inordinate physical risks while under
the influence."
"I once had a client who drove a quad off a cliff because he thought he could fly," Jorgenson said.
She added that among more than 400 patients last year only three or four reported using DMT.
Ham remains in custody on charges including two counts of sale of illegal drugs. His bonds total $220,000.
He faces charges, including second-degree breach of peace and
carrying a handgun without a permit, for an incident May 30, shortly
after Jacobsen's body was found, when Ham attempted to commit suicide,
police said.
Police said they found Ham with a handgun in the field behind CVS on
Queen Street in Newtown and he was threatening to kill himself.
Police said they also found Ham's cell phone, which had a message on it for the Jacobsen family.
"It was me," the message said in part. "I am responsible for this
atrocity. I gave her DMT, and therefore I am the one you must hate
for this."