Caretaker arrested after woman found entombed in concrete in NC mountain home
This article was updated on Aug. 12, 2021, with details about an arrest in the case.
A 70-year-old woman was found entombed in concrete at her home in the North Carolina mountain town of Linville Falls, authorities said on Aug. 7.
The woman’s 53-year-old live-in caretaker is a person of interest in the death, they said.
Police said Lynn Gay Keene died of “unnatural causes,” but provided no further details. She was found entombed in concrete in the basement of her home, investigators said.
They said Elizabeth Freeman, the caretaker, was in a hospital, but did not say why.
Freeman, whose real name is Katherine Carserino, was charged with murder, identity theft, larceny of motor vehicle and financial card theft, the Watauga Democrat reported on Aug. 9.
Carserino, who lives in Goose Creek, S.C., was jailed on $1.625 million bail, according to the newspaper.
Keene fired Carserino in June, although neighbors said the caretaker was still living in Keene’s home in late July, The Associated Press reported, citing court records.
Keene’s family hired Carserino to be her live-in caretaker, according to an Avery County Sheriff’s Office post on Facebook.
On July 30, the sheriff’s office filed a missing person report on Keene. Her family reported her missing, saying they’d last had contact with her June 14, sheriff’s officials said.
Sheriff’s detectives found the home secured. Keene’s car wasn’t there, they said.
On Aug. 2, Cherokee Police Department officers found Keene’s 2000 Lincoln Town car abandoned on Blue Wing Road, according to the sheriff’s office. The car was locked, and the keys were under the driver’s seat, investigators said.
Sheriff’s detectives said they obtained a warrant to search Keene’s home with agents and crime scene technicians from the State Bureau of Investigation.
Investigators said they found human remains entombed in concrete in the basement of the home. An autopsy was performed, and Keene was identified through dental records, according to the sheriff’s office.
This story was originally published August 7, 2021 at 1:40 PM with the headline "Caretaker arrested after woman found entombed in concrete in NC mountain home."