The Major Case Squad is investigating after a woman was found shot to death in her Sunset Hills home Sunday.
A person looking in on the welfare of Terry Tobey, 86, found Tobey dead in her home on Bradford Woods Drive around 5 p.m. Sunday, said Ed Magee, spokesman for county Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch.
Even before the county Medical Examiner’s Office declared the death a homicide after an autopsy Monday, the Sunset Hills Police Department activated the Major Case Squad, which now has 20 detectives investigating the case, led by Det. Sgt. Kevin Ahlbrand of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. County prosecutors also have an attorney on call working on the case.
Sunset Hills had not had a homicide in years, but the killing came the same week as the disappearance of another Sunset Hills woman, Linda McLaughlin. McLaughlin is still missing after she was last seen June 1. The next day, the Sunset Hills Police Department called in the St. Louis County Crimes Against Persons Unit to investigate her disappearance after officers found evidence that McLaughlin may have been the victim of a crime.
During Sunset Hills Police Chief William LaGrand’s regular police report during Tuesday’s Board of Aldermen meeting, he said he does not believe that residents need to be worried about their safety because of the shooting.
“The investigation is active, it’s vigorous, it’s ongoing, and we have absolutely no indication that this is something of a serial nature,” LaGrand said of Tobey’s killing. “In my opinion, it is isolated to that particular situation.”
“So our citizens don’t need to be unduly alarmed at this point?” Mayor Mark Furrer asked LaGrand.
“No,” LaGrand replied.
Tobey was last seen alive at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, but authorities are not releasing any more information at this time, Magee said.
Anyone with information that could be useful for the investigation is requested to contact the Major Case Squad at (314) 849-2719, Crimestoppers at (314) 725-8477 or the Sunset Hills Police Department at (314) 849-4400.