HUNTINGTON – Jessica Dana’s aunt, Tammy (Dana) Zuccala, remembers her niece as a person who, above all else, put her kids and family first.
“She liked life,” said Zuccala. “She was very active and she loved to have a good time, but her children were her world.”
Because of Dana’s strong connection to her children, Zuccala said when her family was told by Dana’s boyfriend Jeb Daly, Sr., that Dana left their Rocky Brook Drive home last Friday night and did not return by the next morning, they knew something was just not right.
“When we heard Jessie disappeared, we knew something was wrong,” said Zuccala. “We knew she would never leave her children.”
The instincts of Dana’s family were right – her body was found Sunday night wrapped up and stuffed in a cardboard box just over an embankment at the home she shared with Daly.
“The body was in the box of the pool they just bought for the kids about a week ago,” said Zuccala.
Dana and Daly entertained friends Friday night and, according to First Assistant Northwestern District Attorney Steven E. Gagne, friends at the gathering recalled the couple fighting and the mood was tense when the party broke up.
What exactly happened when their guests left is still under investigation. Gagne said Daly was the last person to see Dana alive.
It was not until Saturday that Daly told Dana’s family she was missing and, at their urging, contacted police. A state police search ensued and ended with the discovery of Dana’s body and Daly’s arrest after a manhunt.
Zuccala said there were friends and family at the Rocky Brook Drive home Sunday aiding the search and it was actually two of Dana’s friends who discovered her body.
“Everyone said Jeb was acting nervous whenever people went near where they found Jess’s body,” said Zuccala. “While they were outside searching, he fled. There was one detective in the house with him, but he didn’t know there was another way for him to get out of the house.”
Zuccala said it has been an emotional couple of days.
“Right now, we are focusing on the kids,” she said.
Dana had three children, ages 10, two and one. Daly is the father of the two youngest.
“It’s sad,” Zuccala said. “Jeb was a fantastic father. He was great to his kids. There are three kids that now don’t have a mom, or a dad.”
Daly plead not guilty in Northampton District Court Monday to charges of improper disposal of a body and misleading police. Currently, no other charges have been made. Dana’s body was taken into police custody and her death ruled a homicide. Zuccala said her body has not yet been released to the family.
“We just want to be able to make plans for her funeral or memorial, something,” Zuccala said.
Dana graduated from Gateway Regional High School in 2000 and worked at a rest stop gas station until the birth of her youngest child.
“She liked working, but Jeb made enough money to support the family and she loved being home with her children,” Zuccala said. “Family was everything to Jess. She spent a lot of time with her aunts and cousins – her family was her friends.”
Zuccala said Dana enjoyed gathering with family and friends and when the couple bought their home several months ago, Dana became the natural hostess.
“She had everyone over for the canoe races – I told her she was the Kool-Aid Mom,” Zuccala said.
A bit of a neat freak, Zuccala said Dana kept her house sparkling clean and loved to cook for people.
“She was a lot like me actually – never afraid to voice her opinion,” said Zuccala. “She may have been little, but she was a fighter.”
At just 4’11” tall and around 90 pounds, Dana was small in stature but big on personality, said her aunt.
“She was born two months early and weighed just two pounds, 14 ounces,” Zuccala said. “They gave her last rites. She had a collapsed lung, but even then she was a fighter.
“She was always doing something for someone,” she said. “She was just the love of everybody’s life and she was her mom’s best friend.”
Zuccala said despite the tragedy and questions surrounding Dana’s death, the families of Dana and Daly are concentrating on the three children, which is just what Dana would have wanted.
A fund has been established at Westfield Bank for the three children.
Anyone wishing to make a donation can do so at any Westfield Bank branch, or send a check to the Westfield Bank, 141 Elm St., Westfield, MA 01085.
A fund established for Dana’s children at United Bank is not affiliated with Dana’s family.
