NBC Connecticut anchor Heidi Voight shares ‘painful secret’ that her mother was murdered
NBC Connecticut anchor Heidi Voight has revealed that her extended absence from the local news station is due to the “painful secret” that her mother was murdered in February.
The award-winning journalist opened up about her grief and shared details about her mother’s death in a lengthy statement uploaded to her social media accounts July 31.
“She should still be here,” Voight began in the emotional post. She then thanked friends who have reached out to show their concern as she currently takes a break from her job at the NBC-owned station in Connecticut.
“I know you’ve had questions, and there is something I’ve been wanting to tell you, but up until now, couldn’t,” she said. “I have been carrying this painful secret: My mother’s death was not natural, nor peaceful. My mother was murdered, violently, in the place she should have felt safest — her own home in Windham, Vermont.”
She lamented her mother’s untimely death.
Voight continued, “Claudia Voight was stolen from this world. She was stolen from her family, from her children, and from my precious daughters who now ask me almost every day, ‘Why did Grandma go to Heaven?’”
While the news anchor said she tries to tell her daughters that their grandmother is now with God, she struggles to fathom how “such evil exists in this world.” According to her NBC Connecticut bio, Voight shares 5-year-old twin daughters Apolonia “Polly” Rose and Violet Concetta with her husband, David.
“It wrenches my broken heart to know that someday they will have to learn the truth of how they were robbed of so many years with their ‘Grandma CC’, the one who held their little hands as they took their first steps, the one who now visits as butterflies in the garden, the one who exists in memories and photos and stories that I must now keep alive,” she wrote in her statement.
The reporter said her family found it difficult to not speak publicly about the murder. But they needed to wait as authorities investigated the criminal case, she explained.
She expressed her gratitude for the Vermont State Police, her NBC Connecticut family and victim advocates for being part of her family’s support system.
“I’m taking this time to be present for the many processes ongoing related to my mom’s case, and to make sure I’m getting the help I need to be mentally and physically okay for the long haul,” she shared.
Voight added, “This has broken me and changed me. But I am my mother’s daughter, and I will come back stronger. I will fight for her.”
She said she expects more details about the case to emerge as the investigation progresses.
The day Voight released her statement, Vermont State Police shared a press release about Claudia Voight’s homicide. Authorities confirmed the grandmother was 73 years old at the time of her death.
“The Feb. 20 death of Claudia M. Voight initially was reported to be the result of an apparent medical event and did not appear suspicious,” police said in the July 31 statement. “However, an autopsy performed several days later at the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington indicated the death was suspicious, and Voight had sustained injuries that were detectable only during autopsy.”
Authorities said a final autopsy conducted in April determined “Ms. Voight’s cause of death was neck compression, and the manner of death was homicide.”
Although police said they do not have a suspect in custody and have not identified a threat to the community, they do not believe the death was “random.”
The Vermont State Police said they will provide future updates about the case.
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
