Neighbors Shocked To Hear Of NSU Professor's Murder

UPDATE: The murdered professor's missing car was spotted around 5:30 at an apartment complex near 81st and Highway 169. A viewer saw the car's description in our 5 p.m. newscast, then called police and alerted our newsroom. We watched from Osage SkyNews 6, as crime scene tape went up around the car.

The people who lived next door to a woman who was found murdered in Tahlequah are shocked and sad this evening.

Law enforcement hasn't released her identity, but friends tell us she was a professor at Northeastern State University.

Until police officially release the woman's name, we're not going to report it, but we can tell you her neighbors say she was devoted to her job and would do anything to help those in her life.

The woman's body was found inside her home on Kupsick Avenue last Friday evening.

"She was very smart, very friendly. Do anything for anybody and everybody loved her in our neighborhood," said neighbor Mary Blakemore.

Blakemore lives across the street. She said everyone on that small cul-de-sac knew the woman.

Blakemore said she was a chemistry professor at Northeastern State University, and another neighbor said the woman would help her teenage son with chemistry and encouraged him to go into the field of study.

6/1/2013 Related Story: NSU Police Find Murdered Woman's Body In Tahlequah

"Her college was, I think, her life--and those cats that she had. They sat in the windows and they'd wait for her to come in," Blakemore said.

Detectives are now trying to find her car. It's a dark red 2011 Ford Fiesta hatchback, with Oklahoma plates 098HQO. It also has an orange OSU sticker in the back window.

Officials are not saying much about the investigation, but a neighbor told us her car was last seen on Wednesday, and that, usually when she goes out of town, she leaves the windows open for the cats. But in this case, the windows were closed.

A fire specialist from the ATF was at the house over the weekend, although Tahlequah's Police Chief declined to say why.

The woman's death has hurt everyone here on her street. They say they want to know why something so tragic could happen to a woman who was known for helping her neighbors and passing on her love of education.

"She'd do something for anybody, and she has probably taken it too far by trusting people," Blakemore said.

If you see the Ford Fiesta, investigators ask that you not approach it, but call 911 right away or the OSBI at 1-800-522-8017.