Michelle McNamara, wife of comedian Patton Oswalt, dies

Michelle McNamara, wife of comedian Patton Oswalt, died on April 21. She was 46.

Kevin McLaughlin of Main Stage Public Relations said that she died in her sleep that night, according to Washington Post. The cause of the death wasn't available, said McLaughlin, but her passing “was a complete shock to her family and friends, who loved her dearly.”

McNamara was a graduate from the University of Notre Dame and she later attended the University of Minnesota, graduating with a masters in creative writing. She founded the website TrueCrimeDiary.com, a website that covers breaking stories and cold cases.

In a 2007 online interview, McNamara started the website almost as a lark, reported Fox News. "I wanted to get more involved in the cases that were fueling my own curiosity," she said.

She didn't want to focus on the big celebrity cases. She focused more on the smaller ones, the ones that weren't in the public eye, like the Golden State Killer and the 1976 murder of nurse Melanie Howell.

"It's the ones that really don't get that much attention that interest me because I think what's interesting about them is there's more stuff to be unearthed that hasn't been in the public yet and you can do it," she wrote.

Besides her husband, McNamara is survived by a 7-year-old daughter, Alice.