Police: Nursing student was found strangled after she hadn't picked up daughter
Nassau County police released this photo of victim Kelly Owen. Credit: NCPD
The 27-year-old nursing student, found strangled in her South Farmingdale home, was discovered Wednesday afternoon after she failed to show up at her six-year-old daughter's after-school program, Nassau police said.
Kelly Owen, 27, was found in her bed around 3:41 p.m. after police responded to her home on First Avenue for a report of a female not breathing. An ambulance technician pronounced her dead at 3:50 p.m., police said.
The medical examiner’s office determined the cause of death was asphyxiation, police said.
“We looked at the house, and there are no obvious signs of break-in," Nassau Police Det. Lt. Stephen Fitzpatrick said at a news conference Thursday. “We’ve scoured the area, and we’re looking into her past or anyone who knows her.”
A police spokeswoman Friday said there was no update in the case.
Reached by phone Friday, family members declined to comment on the case.
Authorities said Owen lived in the home with her parents, her brother and her 6-year-old daughter. She was a nursing student who was on school break at the time of her death, police said.
Nassau homicide detectives respond to reports of a body found in a house in South Farmingdale on Thursday. Credit: Jim Staubitser
Photos posted on her Owen's Facebook page show the mother with her daughter at Disney World last week, posing with princesses, getting their hair and makeup done and on the park's rides.
According to accounts from family members, Owen woke up at 8 a.m. Wednesday and got her daughter ready for school, Fitzpatrick said. The victim's father took the child to school.
Typically, Owen would go to the school at 3 p.m. to help out at her daughter’s after-school program, police said. But her parents became concerned when they returned home at 3:30 p.m. and found Owen’s car still in the driveway.
“That is what alarmed them to what had happened,“ Fitzpatrick said. “They went in and discovered her body.”
Police are asking anyone with information about Owen to call Crime Stoppers at 800-244-TIPS. All callers will remain anonymous.
With Bart Jones
Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.
Person on fire outside Trump trial ... Teacher pay ... LI job growth leads nation ... Islanders surprise fans
Person on fire outside Trump trial ... Teacher pay ... LI job growth leads nation ... Islanders surprise fans
