TOLEDO, Ohio — It was March 3 when DeAnne Kleinhans got a call that changed her life forever.
"It was the supervisor telling me that she didn't know what all was going on, but there had been an incident and the ambulance had to cut Ethan out of the vehicle," DeAnne said.
She said after the call she rushed to the hospital where her 19-year-old son Ethan Kleinhans was receiving CPR.
"I will never get those images out of my head. Between the time that the EMS started CPR until the time that the doctor in the ER finally called it," DeAnne said. "It was an hour and five minutes, and they never got a sustainable heartbeat back."
The Lucas County Coroner's office reports Ethan died from asphyxiation after being found tangled in his harness inside a transport van on Hallgate Avenue in west Toledo.
Now, more than seven months later, it's a situation the Toledo Police Department is still investigating.
"You watch different stories and, you know, something happens on Friday and there's somebody held accountable on Monday and they're going before a judge," DeAnne said. "And we're now seven and a half months in, and nobody's had to go before a judge and my son is gone and his life mattered."
DeAnne said she wants someone to be held accountable.
"I don't know how you could miss somebody struggling because to strangle to death takes time," DeAnne said.
DeAnne said she always struggled with letting Ethan out of her sight due to his developmental disabilities.
"Most parents get to grow out of that toddler stage, he didn't," DeAnne said. "He was always on the go. He was always doing toddler things, dumping toys, picking up toys, throwing toys. Just constantly on the go, constantly active."
She said she placed Ethan in a group home provided by the Wood County Board of Developmental Disabilities once he turned 13.
"It was the hardest decision I ever had to make," DeAnne explained. "He just got too big and too strong and I have three other children."
She said she now carries guilt for trusting strangers with her son's life.
DeAnne believes ViaQuest staff members took him on a car ride and left him unattended in the car the day he died.
"He was supposed to have two staff with him at all times during week hours and at least one of them within an arm's reach," DeAnne said. "I don't know and will never know the truth of what happened in that van."
She said Ethan liked going on car rides as the motion of the vehicle helped him relax.
She is now left with photos and a memorial in her front yard to remind her of Ethan.
"I miss him. I miss him every day," DeAnne said.
WTOL 11 is waiting to learn more about the incident from TPD and the Lucas County Prosecutor's Office. We also reached out to ViaQuest but have not yet heard back from them.