The heartbroken mother of a 36-year-old former Fox News producer who was found dead at her Florida home last weekend said post-traumatic stress disorder “destroyed her” and their family.

According to an incident report from the Martin County Sheriff’s Office in Florida, Jennifer Eckhart was discovered by her mother, Cynthia Eckhart, inside her home in Hobe Sound on the morning of Saturday, September 19. Emergency services pronounced her dead at the scene, and her death has been ruled a suicide.

After Jennifer’s death, her mom, 67, said she believes her daughter’s years-long ordeal following her highly publicized sexual misconduct lawsuit against former Fox News anchor Ed Henry led her to take her life. Just months before her death, Jennifer had publicly discussed the legal struggles she had been facing.

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Jennifer, who worked as an associate producer for the Fox Business Network from 2013 to 2020, gained national attention in 2020 when she filed a high-profile sexual assault lawsuit against Henry, accusing him of rape and grooming. Henry denied the allegations and maintained that their relationship was consensual.

Her claims against Fox were dismissed in March 2025, with an appeals court upholding that decision in April 2026. Jennifer and Henry reached a confidential settlement in June 2025, shortly before the claims against him were scheduled to go to trial.

The former producer’s mother, however, said that Jennifer “never got over it” as she “had post-traumatic stress from all of this, and it affected her life greatly.”

Speaking to the Daily Mail, Cynthia said, “Henry was fired, but this didn’t leave my daughter. It destroyed her and my family. That’s all I can say.”

Despite being a regular Instagram user in the past, Jennifer’s posts had slowed down noticeably this year. But on June 1 — her final post — she had shared some selfies and photos, including some food and new plants, hinting at a new beginning.

“Haven’t posted since the last time gas was under $4. What a time to be alive,” she captioned the carousel of images. “Glad to be sharing this weird little corner of the Internet again. Working on some exciting stuff that I can’t wait to share with you all!”

The previous month, she had shared some photos to celebrate her mom on Mother’s Day. Speaking publicly in 2020, Jennifer said she had been “paralyzed by fear” while working at Fox and believed Henry possessed the power to destroy her career.

After leaving the network, she launched the podcast REINVENTED, which shared stories from people who had rebuilt their lives after experiencing adversity. Its latest listed episode was released in March.