Neighbors Disturbed By Elderly Woman's Murder In North Braddock
NORTH BRADDOCK (KDKA) – A 92-year-old woman was found bound and dead in her North Braddock home on Monday.
Neighbors are deeply disturbed by what happened inside the Jones Avenue home.
Neighbors said they would occasionally see 92-year-old Amelia Roman pop her head out of the front door or have a casual conversation in passing, but she had no enemies or conflict.
"Never bothered anyone. Very nice person and for something like that to have happened here is very scary," Barbara Rawls said.
As police searched the home Monday night, they said Roman was found in bed with her hands and feet bound by duct tape with blankets covering her body.
The back door window was smashed, which is possibly how the assailant got inside.
"She's a very small woman. There was a very slight struggle. But, it does appear like she tried to fight a little bit," Allegheny County Police Asst. Supt. James Morton said.
"Never in my years would I ever think I would see something like this," North Braddock Police Chief Dean Bazzone said.
When police briefed the media Monday, they believed that the woman was dead in her home, undiscovered, for about 16 hours. It was her son in Florida who couldn't reach her on the phone who notified family in the area.
"He called the neighbor and her brother, who lives in the area. They came on a welfare check and found the victim bound on the first floor and deceased at that time," Morton said.
It's unclear what was taken, but police say she lived modestly. Neighbors said there was only one thing that was a recent worry for the elderly woman.
"She was kind of concerned with the house next door. She was kind of concerned with it because it's empty. And one day we were talking and we had heard someone in there and so I suggested she call the police about that," Rawls said.
An autopsy is expected to be completed soon, which may provide detectives with crucial answers they need to proceed in this investigation.
Police were back at the home Tuesday to continue their investigation.
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