Foul play suspected in disappearance of woman, 80
Garland County sheriff’s investigators believe an 80-year-old woman missing since last week may have been the victim of foul play, Sheriff Mike McCormick said Monday.
The Garland County Sheriff’s Department received information on Aug. 22 that Betty Slaughter, 80, who lives on Legend Circle, was missing. Investigators
found evidence at the home that made them suspect she was a victim of foul play.
“We are investigating this case as a criminal case rather than just a missing person,” McCormick said in a news release. “We ask for the public’s help in solving this case.”
Anyone with any information on the disappearance of Slaughter is urged to call the sheriff’s office at 501-622-3690.
The body of an unidentified person was discovered Saturday evening in Lowe Cemetery in Royal and McCormick told The Sentinel-Record Monday foul play is suspected in that case, as well.
Asked if the body found could be that of Slaughter, McCormick said, “We’re not ruling out that possibility.”
Deputies responded to the cemetery around 7:30 p.m. Saturday after receiving a call about a dead person being found, Under Sheriff Jason Lawrence told the newspaper Sunday.
Once deputies arrived and confirmed the presence of a body, the area was closed off to the public to allow investigators to process the scene. The body was sent to the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory for positive identification.
McCormick said they were still awaiting DNA results from the lab on Monday.