Shane McLaughlin, left, and Eleanora McLaughlin. (Penobscot County Jail; Erika Dupuis/WCSH)
A 37-year-old Maine father has been charged with manslaughter and child endangerment in connection with the death of his 13-month-old daughter, who died from hypothermia at the family’s home nearly 10 months before his arrest.
Shane McLaughlin was arrested Wednesday on one count of manslaughter and three counts of child endangerment in connection with the December 2025 death of Eleanora Ray McLaughlin, authorities said.
In a news release, Maine State Police said Eleanora was found dead at McLaughlin’s home on Dec. 28, 2025. His arrest came after a months-long investigation by the agency’s Major Crimes Unit, including an April autopsy performed by the Office of Chief Medical Examiner. The examination determined that Eleanora died of hypothermia and that her death was accidental, according to authorities.
Eleanora lived at her father’s home with her twin sister and 3-year-old brother, the Bangor Daily News reported.
The three child-endangerment charges stem from the conditions surrounding Eleanora’s death, according to a Portland Press Herald report citing the indictment. The charging document reportedly alleges that McLaughlin recklessly endangered Eleanora and two other children by failing to meet his duty of care and protection.
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McLaughlin discussed his daughter’s death in a December 2025 interview with WCSH, an NBC affiliate in Portland, Maine. He told the station that he was the only adult at the home on the frigid night Eleanora died. She had been sleeping in his room with her siblings.
“I grabbed a package of Pop-Tarts, opened it up, and I went to wake up Eleanora, and that’s when I found her dead,” he said. “I was using an electric space heater in my bedroom between the girls’ bed. The door was open because one of the animals came into the bedroom, and I could see my breath.”
The conditions surrounding Eleanora’s death also prompted concern among Maine lawmakers, the Press Herald reported. One state senator reportedly contacted the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, writing that Eleanora had been found dead “while living in a home alongside her siblings with no heat and no running water in the middle of a Maine winter.”
Eleanora’s mother, Erika Dupuis, previously told WCSH that she was “angry and upset” that McLaughlin, her estranged husband, had not been charged in connection with their daughter’s death. She reportedly relocated from Maine to West Virginia during the summer before Eleanora died.
McLaughlin was booked at the Penobscot County Jail and is being held on $250,000 bond. His initial court appearance is scheduled for Friday.
