According to police, a visiting nurse was discovered de*ad in the basement of a patient’s home in Connecticut in a “deeply troubling case.”
The nurse’s family reported her missing on Saturday, according to the Willimantic Police Department. According to an affidavit, she had missed several appointments that day, and a family member tracked her phone to the address of her first patient, who was scheduled for 8 a.m. ET that day.
Officers later discovered her red Hyundai at a nearby business, and a K-9 unit tracked her scent back to the residence, according to police.
According to the affidavit, authorities discovered that the patient who lived at the home, 38-year-old Michael Reese, had a probation-issued ankle bracelet that alerted signs of tampering. According to police, he was detained after he appeared to leave the house through the back door.
Officers searched the house after he was arrested and discovered the woman’s body in the basement, according to police. Her identity and cause of de*ath have not been disclosed.
According to the affidavit, Reese was found with a small paring knife, a crack pipe, debit and credit cards belonging to an individual whose name was redacted, and a Hyundai key fob. He was arrested on unrelated charges to the deceased woman.
Reese is a registered sex offender with “violent tendencies,” according to the affidavit.
“This is a deeply troubling case on many levels, and one of the worst cases I have seen in 27 years of law enforcement,” said Willimantic Police Chief Paul M. Hussey in a statement. “Our condolences go out to the family of the victim.”
The investigation has been taken over by Connecticut State Police. There have been no further developments.
There have been no charges filed in connection with the woman’s d*eath.
Reese faces probation violation, larceny, and drug paraphernalia charges and was not present at his arraignment on Monday, according to New Haven ABC affiliate WTNH. According to online jail records, he is currently being held on a $1 million bond.
According to the state’s sex offender registry, he was convicted of first-degree sexual assault in 2007 and is scheduled to be released in 2020.
