Posted on Tue, Feb. 09, 2010

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Police: Wichita woman's death is suspicious

BY TIM POTTER

The Wichita Eagle

WICHITA - Police are treating the death of a 29-year-old Wichita woman — whose body was found in her living room on South Sylvan — as suspicious, a chief investigator said today.

Police are awaiting autopsy results to determine if her death is a homicide, said police Lt. Ken Landwehr, who oversees homicide investigations.

The woman was a civilian supervisor in the McConnell Air Force Base commissary, Landwehr said.

According to an initial police report, someone found the woman shortly after 2 p.m. Monday in her home in the 500 block of South Sylvan, near Kellogg and Oliver, with what appeared to be a gunshot wound to the head.

But Landwehr said today that investigators are still trying to determine how she died.

The woman had injuries on her body, and police found items that could be considered weapons, he said, without elaborating.

The woman mostly lived alone. She shared custody of her 9-year-old son, who was away with his father when the woman's body was found, Landwehr said.

The woman was last heard from around midnight Sunday. Co-workers could not reach her later. That prompted a co-worker to check on her, Landwehr said.

According to the initial police report, the incident was reported at 2:06 p.m. Monday, and seven minutes later, the woman was pronounced dead.

Reach Tim Potter at 316-268-6684 or tpotter@wichitaeagle.com.