Murdered Florida Family Were Once Northeast Ohio Residents

LAKEWOOD, OH — A family murdered in Florida were Northeast Ohio residents until five years ago, according to police. The son-in-law of the family's daughter was arrested in Lakewood and charged with the killings.

Shelby John Nealy, aka Svensen, was arrested in Lakewood on Thursday. Tarpon Springs investigators flew to Ohio to interview the 25-year-old and then announced he had admitted to killing his in-laws. He is awaiting extradition back to Florida.

Richard Louis Ivancic, 71, and Laura Ann Ivancic, 59, were found dead in their mobile home in Tarpon Springs, Florida on New Year's Day. Police also found Nicholas James Ivancic, 25, dead in the mobile home. Richard and Laura Ivancic were married and Nicholas was their son.

The Ivancic's daughter, Jamie, was then reported missing. Her body was subsequently found buried outside a Florida home, where she had lived with Nealy, police said.

The medical examiner said Jamie died of "violent blunt-force trauma" at the site where her body was found. The exact time of death has not been established but Pasco County Sheriff's Col. Jeffrey Harrington said she may have died up to a year ago.

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Ohio Roots

Laura Ivancic is the sister of the former police chief of North Royalton, James Zindroski, who said the Ivancics moved to Tarpon Springs about five years ago after Richard retired from the Cleveland Electric Illuminating Co. The couple's adopted children, Jamie and Nicholas Ivancic, moved to the Sunshine State with them.

Zindroski said Svenson was vague about his past, didn't have a valid driver's license and used "three or four aliases." He also had a history of violence and psychological issues, and had been committed to a mental institution "once or twice," according to Zindroski.

Authorities say the murder of Svenson's wife may have been precipitated by Jamie's announcement to her parents a year ago that she planned to take the children and leave her husband.

In the period after Jamie's death, Harrington said Svenson tricked his in-laws into thinking she was still alive by telling them she couldn't come to the phone when they called. Harrington said he also may have sent them text messages and used other deceptions to make them think she was still alive.

Although Svenson hasn't given a motive for the murders, authorities speculate that Jamie's parents may have confronted Svenson about their daughter's extended absence.

Image via Tarpon Springs Police