By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
A nationwide search is underway for two persons of interest who used a cross to beat to death an elderly woman in a church in rural Arkansas.
WREG.com in Memphis is reporting that 80 year old Lillian Wilson was found beaten to death and lying under a pew in the Central United Methodist Church in the small community of Hamlin, which is just west of Wynne, Arkansas. It is believed that her attackers had broken into the church and that Mrs. Wilson surprised them when she entered.
“Probably the first thing she said when she walked in the church was, ‘Can I help you?'” said longtime neighbor and friend, Linda Peeler. “She was 80-years-old. She wasn’t a threat to anybody. They didn’t have to hurt her.”
Wilson, the mother of two, is described as being a caring woman who was very active in the community. A retired nurse, she worked with veterans, was involved in the library system, and was an avid animal lover who volunteered at the local animal shelter and fostered cats in her home.
“We’re just in shock, devastated and angry,” said Peeler. “We’re angry that someone would do that to someone that helped so many people. And to do it in a church, that’s the hardest.”
Cross County Sheriff J. R. Smith said investigators know who they’re looking for and where they are from, but would not confirm details of the ongoing investigation. They have not released a possible motive for the crime but did say they were unable to find Mrs. Wilson’s purse.
It is believed that the suspect(s) are driving Mrs. Wilson’s grey 2003 Mercury Grand Marquis with an Arkansas tag number 737-NGN. Anyone who sees this car is being asked to call the Cross County Sheriff’s Office at 870-238-5700.
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