Toms River Man Loved Making Music, Struggled With Mental Health, Sister Says

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Brooke Spurlock says there's one thing she's hoping to get back when she comes to New Jersey to hold a memorial service for her brother, Deane LaBranche of Toms River.

"I’m hoping to recover his phone when I get back there," Spurlock said in a phone interview a few days after her brother's death was confirmed by authorities. "I know there’s a ton of stuff on there."

The "stuff" she's looking for isn't simply messages or photos; she's certain she'll find videos of him singing, something her brother loved to do and loved to share with others.

"He wanted to show people his talent," Spurlock said.

Deane E. LaBranche, 52, was found dead on Jan. 12, a week after authorities found his car in the parking lot at Shelter Cove Park. He had been listed as a missing person Jan. 11, after police notified Spurlock about his car being found with some of his possessions, including his guitar, inside. She had posted a public request for help to find her brother, pleading with the Toms River community to contact police if they had any information about his whereabouts.

She was notified the next day that he had been found, Spurlock said. Authorities said he was found floating at the edge of the marsh at Shelter Cove, and while his death remained under investigation, foul play did not appear to be involved.

A memorial service is set for 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 1, at Ocean County Cremation, 1252 Route 37 West, and Spurlock said the community is invited.

Spurlock said she was told the preliminary finding was that he died of hypothermia and drowning.

The hardest part of losing Dino — the nickname her brother went by — has been cruel comments from people who did not know him, Spurlock said.

"It killed me," she said. "He didn't do drugs," which was one of the frequent claims she saw.

On the contrary, Spurlock said, her brother suffered from extreme anxiety and depression and had been dealing with it since he was a teenager.

"I’ve never known anyone with such severe mental illness as him," she said. Dino had been on Social Security Disability Insurance since he was 18 or 19 years old and lived with their mother, Elizabeth Ann Pope, for most of his life.

Over the years, Dino's illness worsened, Spurlock said.

"When his brain was balanced he would do anything for you," she said. "He had a great smile."

Dino had a group of friends that he played basketball with, and though he did not play basketball when he was in high school at Toms River East, Spurlock said his friends after high school gave him a nickname — Deane the Dream.

"He was that good," she said, adding she was told he had inspired one of his friends to become a basketball coach. One of the police officers who found him had played basketball with Dino, she said.

But as the manic depression deepened, Dino withdrew from the world.

"The anxiety kept him from going out of Toms River," she said, and he would only go to the store early in the morning because being in crowds made him so uncomfortable. "He couldn’t bring himself to have friends."

The family had last spoken with him on Christmas, Spurlock said, when one of their brothers called Dino; he told her he'd had a great conversation with their baby brother.

"My relationship with him was complicated because the manic depression got worse over time," she said. Spurlock, who lives in Los Banos, California, would come home once a year to see Dino. She would bring him coffee and doughnuts from Dunkin and he would share his music with her.

Spurlock had last seen him in March 2024, after the death of her husband, and had texted Dino on his birthday in September.

"Sometimes it was tough to talk because he wasn’t grounded in reality," she said.

But he loved to talk about his music and how much he wanted others to hear it, Spurlock said.

"He told me, 'I've written so much music and I have no one to share with,' " Spurlock said. Dino had created a YouTube channel and would post videos of himself singing the songs he had written, but she discovered he had taken down all the videos sometime before his death.

"It’s so sad because I know he uploaded a ton of stuff," she said.

When their mother died in 2016, Dino sold the house where they had lived, and the influx of money led to his SSDI payments being terminated, Spurlock said. He moved into a rental home and lived there until he had used up the proceeds from the house, she said.

At that point, Dino moved into a hotel and he had contacted an attorney for assistance in getting the SSDI payments restored. Spurlock suspects he received a denial on his request for assistance before his death.

"You know when you are that down, when you’ve had it, you’ve had it. When you're done, you're done," she said.

"This was not painful for him," Spurlock said, adding authorities told her there was no trauma to his body. "This is really what happened. Not that I feel like I have to explain myself, but for him."

"I wish he could have seen how the community came together to try to find him," Spurlock said.

She's hoping the community will come together on Saturday, Feb. 1, for the public memorial service she and her family are holding for Dino at 11 a.m. Ocean County Cremation, 1252 Route 37 West. Their brothers, Raymond LaBranche and Aidan Pope, are flying in from California as well.

Spurlock said she had received angry messages when she shared a GoFundMe campaign seeking help with the funeral expenses, but she said her brother's death comes less than a year after the death of her husband, Dennis, who died after an illness that required a few years of extra care. One of Dino's brothers is disabled, she said, which is why she was hoping people might help with the costs.

"I wish Dino could’ve seen how his community came together searching for him, how much everyone cared, and how loved he truly was," she said.

Spurlock also hopes that people who are suffering with depression or anxiety or who are in crisis will hear her message, urging them to know they are not alone.

"Manic depression does not discriminate," she said. "If you are suffering, get help."

If you or a loved one are struggling or in crisis, call the New Jersey Suicide Prevention Hopeline (855-654-6735) or call 988, the national suicide and mental health crisis hotline.