Suspicious death of 64-year-old Ocala woman investigated

OCALA, Fla. — Deputies in Marion County are releasing few details in connection with the killing of a 64-year-old woman.

Neighbor Amin Khan and his wife found Carolyn Wagner's body Monday at her home on First Avenue in Ocala's Lemonwood subdivision.

After noticing newspapers from the previous few days were piling up in her driveway and the garage door was left open, the Khans went inside Wagner's home and found her dead inside a bedroom.

"And that's a good indicator that you should check on your neighbor," said Jennifer Lowe of the Marion County Sheriff's Office. "And so, they went over to check on her and found her deceased. They called us immediately, which is exactly what they should have done."

"She had like three days' worth of newspapers left in her driveway, and the garage door was open, which is very unlike her," said Khan. "She always closes the garage door when she gets here."

Detectives are not commenting on the cause of death but are calling it a homicide.

"She was last seen alive on Thursday, a few days before she was found," said Lowe. "So sometime in that time frame is when they think this occurred."

Investigators said they're trying to piece together who may have visited Wagner over the Christmas holiday.

"Whether or not she had visitors at her home over those few days -- neighbors, family, friends -- that's part of what detectives are looking at right now," said Lowe. "Who was there, and when they were there, and what they were doing there."

"I'm in shock at the moment," Khan told WFTV. "There was blood all to her head, and she was covered in blood. We did see some bullet shells or casings around the bed."

Anyone with information is asked to contact authorities.

Neighbors said tragedy struck the Wagner family just over a year ago when Wagner's husband, Roger, died after falling from a cliff while hiking in Washington state.

WFTV