Friend Says Woman Found Dead In Burned Home Had Relationship Problems

STRASBURG, Colo. (CBS4) - A death investigation continues in Arapahoe County after firefighters found a woman's body inside a burning home in Strasburg overnight on Saturday.

Police are now looking for a person of interest and the car the person may be driving.

The discovery was made early Saturday morning at a home on South County Road 157, near the intersection with East Quincy Avenue.

Firefighters were called to the scene after a fire broke out at approximately 1 a.m. A passerby noticed flames shooting from the home.

The Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office said the death and fire are being investigated as suspicious.

"They discover somebody down, they pull the person from the residence and quickly discover that there's perhaps suspicious circumstances," said spokesperson Julie Brooks.

Investigators are now working to piece together the timeline and details surrounding the crimes.

"We have to determine how the death happened, and how the fire happened. At this point, whether or not they're related is also another thing that we have to consider," said Brooks.

They are now asking people to be on the lookout for a 2001 white GMC Sierra with a Colorado license plate 962-VCE that is registered to the home. Anyone who spots the vehicle is asked to contact 911. But investigators haven't said who they think is driving that vehicle.

Saturday evening friends came to pay their respects to the woman who lived in the home.

"I've known Teresa for 20 to 22 years at United Airlines," friend Edward Aldridge said.

The woman was the mother of three and grandmother of nine and worked for United Airlines, according to Aldridge. According to Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office scanner traffic the woman had stab wounds to the abdomen.

Aldridge wanted to pass along his condolences from the entire United Airlines family.

'We've had a really tight-knit coworking family for the last couple years," he said. "We knew there was a difficult time in the relationship in the past."

Friends and neighbors told CBS4 there was a planned exchange of property with the victim's ex-husband on Friday.

"With the relationship problems that had taken place the last couple years … I personally can't imagine it's an accident," Aldridge said.

"Teresa was a good neighbor, a happy person, very respectful," neighbor Janeen Nuttall said. "One of the reasons we moved out here was to … try and get away from things like that. It's hard when it's close to your own home."