In ‘deeply troubling case,’ police find missing woman dead in CT basement

In a case that the Willimantic police chief is calling “deeply troubling,” and “one of the worst” of his career, a woman who had been reported missing was found dead in a basement Saturday, police said.

Canine units tracked the woman’s scent to a home in Willimantic Saturday and officers saw a person police called “a suspect” running from the area. The suspect was arrested on unrelated charges and detained at the police department and the woman was found dead inside the basement of the home, the Willimantic Police Department said.

The case began when police were alerted about 2 p.m. that family members were looking for a woman who had been missing since Saturday morning and was believed to be in Willimantic, police said.

Officers responded to Chapman Street to investigate and noted that the woman’s vehicle was missing. They found her vehicle at a nearby business and a canine unit tracked a scent from the vehicle to the home where her body was found, police said.

She had not yet been identified and no further information was immediately available about how she died.

The suspect who was arrested had not yet been identified, either, and police said an investigation was ongoing.

“This is a deeply troubling case on many levels, and one of the worst cases I have seen in 27 years in law enforcement,” said Willimantic Police Chief Paul M. Hussey in a statement. “Our condolences go out to the family of the victim.”

Connecticut State Police had taken over the investigation.

Hussey said there was no danger to the public and that the woman’s death appeared to be an isolated incident.