North Carolina woman's remains found entombed in concrete in basement of her home

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A 70-year-old North Carolina woman's remains were found in her basement, entombed in concrete, earlier this month, and police have charged her former live-in caretaker with murder. 

Lynn Gay Keene's family filed a missing persons report July 30, about six weeks after they last heard from her on June 14. 

Deputies from the Avery County Sheriff's Office went to her home in Linville Falls and discovered that Keene's 2000 Lincoln Town Car was missing. Three days later, on Aug. 2, the Cherokee Police Department found Keene's car abandoned about 100 miles southwest of her home. 

Lynn Gay Keene, 70, was found entombed in concrete in the basement of her North Carolina home.  (Avery County Sheriff's Office)

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The Avery County Sheriff's Office and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation then obtained a search warrant for Keene's home and made the grim discovery. 

"During the search detectives and SBI agents found human remains entombed in concrete in the basement of the home," a spokesman for the Avery County Sheriff's Office said in a statement. "An autopsy was performed on the human remains that were located and it was determined through dental records that the remains were that of Ms. Keene. The autopsy also concluded that the cause of death was a homicide and that Keene did not die of natural causes."

Elizabeth Freeman, the 53-year-old former caretaker who was being sought on charges of larceny of a motor vehicle, financial card theft, and identity theft, was eventually located Friday night at a hospital in western North Carolina near Jackson County, WCNC reported. She was under medical care for a drug-related issue, Avery County Sheriff Kevin Frye said, according to High Country Press.

Freeman is being held in the Avery County jail on secured bond of more than $1.6 million, Frye said Sunday.

Frye is expected to provide a more detailed update on the case Monday. Authorities previously said additional persons of interest may have been involved in Keene's killing. Before Freeman was located, investigators said she could have also been going by the name Elizabeth Carserino. Police were also searching in Dorchester County, South Carolina, and Cummings, Georgia, because she has family in both those areas. 

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John Thompson, Keene's neighbor and family friend, said, according to WXIA-TV that the whole community is in disbelief. 

"I never would have imagined this would have happened. Not here. And not to her," Thompson told the news outlet. "We just all remember seeing her certain days, and then started asking like, oh, it's been a while since we've actually seen her."

Danielle Wallace is a Digital Reporter for Fox News and FOX Business. Follow her on Twitter at @danimwallace. If you've got a tip, you can email her at danielle.wallace@fox.com.