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Responding to the filing, detectives searched Keen’s home and found it to be secured, but noticed that her vehicle, a 2000 Lincoln town car, was missing.
After entering both Keene’s name and the car into a state database, Cherokee Police reported three days later that the Linville Falls resident’s automobile had been found abandoned elsewhere in the state with the car keys hidden underneath the driver’s seat.
The finding then prompted the Avery County Sheriff’s Office to get a search warrant for Keene’s home, where they say they — alongside theNorth Carolina State Bureau of Investigationand its crime scene team — found human remains in the concrete of the home’s basement.
An autopsy was then performed on the body found, and through dental records, police say it was determined that the remains belonged to Keene, 70. Her death has since been ruled a homicide.
Police then began to search for a woman who had been hired as Keene’s live-in caretaker, in the belief that she may have been involved in her death.
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Freeman, 53, was also wanted on charges of larceny of a motor vehicle, financial card theft, and identity theft, police said.
Speaking withNBC News, Keene’s neighbor and family friend of several decades, John Thompson, told the outlet he used to receive a card on his birthday in July from the woman, but never received one this year.
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The man also told the outlet that Keene’s son died during the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, while her husband died nearly two years ago.
Keene was also reportedly a caretaker for her mother, who died last year, according to Thompson.
“That’s a lot for one person to take on,” he said. “It’s just … it’s not fair. Nobody should have to go through that.”
source: people.com
