Officials said Sunday that they think a 53-year-old Thomson woman found dead in a lake Saturday was killed in her home and then dropped into the water.
Barbara Hefner, of the 1900 block of White Oak Road, was found in Folly Lake, off Interstate 20 between U.S. Highway 78 and Georgia Highway 150, at about 4 p.m. Saturday.
McDuffie County Sheriff Logan Marshall said Ms. Hefner's brother had reported her missing at about 9 a.m. when she did not show up to go shopping with a friend.
On Sunday, representatives of the McDuffie County Sheriff's Office and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation's Thomson office were investigating the homicide, gathering evidence at Ms. Hefner's home and awaiting autopsy results, which were not expected to be ready until at least today, the sheriff said.
He said Saturday that someone entered the victim's home, where she lived alone, and ransacked her bedroom.
"The bedroom was not intact," Sheriff Marshall said.
"But the rest of the house seemed to be fine. ... Nothing was taken."
Reach Dena Levitz at (706) 823-3339 or dena.levitz@augustachronicle.com.
