Jhessica Freitas Almeida da Silva was living her dream of working and attending college in the United States.  She had just finished a 2-year Au Pair exchange program and had continued on as a nanny for an affluent host family on Long Island.  However, in April of 2012 her parents in Brazil, Joao and Christina, received the call every parent dreads.  Their dear 20-year-old daughter was found dead, the cause determined to be death by self-hanging, or suicide.  As Jhessica had spoken to her mother on the phone nearly every day of her 2+ years in New York, this news was not only horrific but also completely unexpected.

When Jhessica's father made the unpleasant trip to New York to tie up loose ends and claim his daughter's body, he encountered several peculiar facts:  1) There was no suicide note, 2) the host family had already given away nearly all of Jhessica's personal belongings (without anyone's permission) and had sold her laptop, and 3) an autopsy revealed doxylamine in the blood, a chemical known for its powerful sedative properties. The presence of doxylamine alone caused a forensic medical expert to question whether Jhessica wasn't sedated first and then hanged. 

Joao and Christina have long felt that foul play may have been involved in Jhessica's death.  They had had a very close relationship with their only daughter, and had even visited her in Long Island for one week less than a month prior to her death.  Additionally, Jhessica had just paid for her next semester of school!   Could it really be that a young, vibrant girl enjoying the fruits of living abroad, with no history of drug/alcohol abuse and with a great support network back home, took her own life so unexpectedly?  

Please help us spread this message. With your signature, we can raise awareness of Jhessica's case and the absolute need for a full investigation of the circumstances -- something that was never done by Suffolk County police at the time of her death.