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Body of missing woman found |
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Monday, 17 March 2008 |
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By Matt Burks
Courier Staff
The body of a missing Alexander woman was found on the front porch of a vacant house in Alexander, according to the Saline County Sheriff’s Office.
Florence Annette Joslin, 36, had been missing since Valentine’s Day.
While there is no indication of foul play, authorities say they are treating the case as a homicide. They said that is customary until an investigation is completed.
The body was sent to the state Crime Laboratory for an autopsy.
Joslin, mother of two daughters, was last seen leaving on foot from a house shared with her parents and children at 19544 S. Alexander Road in Alexander between 5:30 and 6 p.m. Feb. 14.
Sheriff’s Lt. Mike Frost said a relative of Joslin found Joslin’s body Friday on the front porch of a house near her residence.
“We found her around 3:30 p.m.,” Frost said. “There was a lot of trash and clothing that partially covered her body.
“We sent the body to the Arkansas Crime Lab and are waiting for those [autopsy] results.
“We are treating this as a homicide at this time until we know for certain what her cause of death is. We treat each [death] case as a homicide first because you don’t want to miss anything ... .
“We even do this on suicide cases. It is something normal that we do — to not rule anything out.”
Sheriff’s Detective Jeremy Hammons said Joslin left a prepaid cell phone at the house, but officers were unable to retrieve any numbers or addresses from it.
He also said she has a history of leaving home, but her parents said this was the first time she’d been gone longer than three days without making contact with anyone.
“The last thing that we know she said was to tell her [11-year-old] daughter that she wanted to visit her friend in Paragould,” said Joslin’s mother, Wanda Joslin, who also lives at the residence.
“We talked to [the friend], though, and she [Florence Joslin] never came to her home.”
Anyone with information about Florence Annette Joslin is asked to call the sheriff’s office at 303-5609 or 303-5608. |
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