41-year-old Dighton mother’s death ruled homicide after found in home with two young children

Officials have ruled the death of a local woman as a homicide.

According to Maine State Police, on Thursday, February 24, 2022, shortly after 01:34 a.m., the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office responded to a home at 82 Pleasant Point Road in Lovell to conduct a welfare check on 41-year-old Jennifer Lingard of Dighton, Massachusetts. Lingard was in Lovell vacationing at her family’s home. Deputies arrived to find Jennifer deceased inside the home with her two young children who were unharmed. Maine State Police Major Crime Unit Detectives were called to assist in the investigation and worked with witnesses and family members to gather statements and evidence. Maine State Police Detectives worked with the Newport, Rhode Island Police to locate and speak with 33-year-old Sami Daou of Newport, Rhode Island who was vacationing with Lingard and her children in Maine. Lingard and Daou were in a relationship at the time.

On Saturday, February 26, 2022, Daou was found deceased inside his Rhode Island home. The Rhode Island medical examiner determined that Daou died as a result of a drug overdose. The Office of Chief Medical Examiner in Augusta conducted an autopsy following Lingard’s death back in February.

After recently receiving toxicology results, Deputy Chief Medical Examiner Liam Funte ruled Lingard’s death a homicide.

The Maine State Police continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding Lingards’ death.