Woman's death called 'suspicious'
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Authorities are calling the death of a Duncan woman “suspicious.” Greenlee County Sheriff Steve Tucker said Mary Redding, 63, was found dead in her home on Chaparral Road on Jan. 22.
“She sustained injuries, and we’re not yet sure how those injuries occurred,” Tucker said.
He said Redding’s body was taken to the Pima County Medical Examiner’s Office in Tucson for autopsy. Preliminary results indicate she sustained some type of injuries. The sheriff would not elaborate on the nature of the injuries, saying the death is still being investigated.
He did say there were no visible causes that stood out, such as a gunshot wound or blunt force trauma to the head.
“She may have died of a heart attack and injured herself in a fall, but we are still definitely treating this as a suspicious death,” he said. “Until we are told by the medical examiner’s office Mrs. Redding died of natural causes, we are regarding this as a suspicious death.”
Shortly after Redding was reported missing the morning of Jan. 22, she was reportedly found by a man, possibly her minister. Her door was apparently unlocked. Sheriff’s officers were called and arrived shortly after at 10:28 a.m.
The sheriff’s office provides law enforcement for the town of Duncan.
Tucker said the woman had been dead at least 24 to 48 hours “and maybe longer.”
Redding’s pickup truck was missing. That, and the unknown cause of death, led authorities to immediately suspect foul play. The truck turned out to be in the possession of Redding’s daughter, Angela Redding, 42. She was found in the Pinal County Jail after being arrested on a Graham County warrant.
Tucker said Greenlee investigators Frank Montoya and Jaime Aguilar interviewed the woman regarding her mother’s death but did not divulge any details of the interview.
“Since there is no obvious cause of death, we’ll just have to wait and see what the final autopsy results reveal, and we’ll go from there,” Tucker said.
A rumor began circulating Tuesday night that two people had been found dead. “Nope, there was only one,” the sheriff said.
