Monroe police ask public for clues in elderly woman's death

MONROE, Ohio (AP) - Police are asking that anyone who may have picked up a hitchhiker or saw someone picked up by anyone else in the Woodridge East Apartment area in Middletown in the early morning hours on Monday Oct. 29, to contact the Monroe Police Department.

Last week, a $10,000 reward was issued for information helping to solve the murder of Barbara Howe.

Monroe Police Chief Gregory Homer said Howe's body was found in the trunk of her Cadillac STS parked next to a children's playground at the Woodridge Park East apartments in Middletown.

Howe, who lived in the Mt. Pleasant Retirement Village in Monroe -- between Dayton and Cincinnati -- had been missing since Oct. 30.

"She was a  wonderful lady," said Stan Kappers, Executive Director of the Mt. Pleasant Retirement Village. "Always had a smile."

On Nov. 2 during a press conference, police said they were investigating her death as a homicide.

"We are...investigating this case with all the manpower available," Curlis said.

Authorities would not say how long her body was in the trunk, how she died, or why the car was parked there. However, neighbors at the Middletown complex say the car had bee parked there since Oct. 30, but no one paid it any attention.

Howe lived alone in a cottage at the Mount Pleasant Retirement Village, and there were no signs of foul play found there.

Everybody's got broken hearts around here," said Kappers. "She was a major part of our family."

Anyone with information on Howe's death is asked to contact the Monroe Police Department at (513) 539-9234.