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Provo police on Thursday said they are treating the death of a woman whose body was found inside her home by her son as a homicide.
Lt. Mathew Siufanua said police believe Belen Perez, 60, died of strangulation.
He declined to release any other details on the woman's death due to the ongoing nature of their investigation, and in lieu of results from an autopsy by the state Medical Examiner's Office.
However, Siufanua did say, "We believe it was suspicious enough that we are treating it as a homicide."
Perez's body was found by about 4 p.m. Wednesday by her son inside her home near 2000 West and 50 North. Siufanua earlier had said there was "obvious trauma" to the body.
Perez's neighbor, Kimberly Bennett, said the son, "opened the door and then I just heard screaming, and then he started screaming, call 911."
Bennett told KUTV 2 News that, phone in hand, she ran over and saw Perez lying on the floor, an electrical cord wrapped around her neck.
"Her clothes were covered in bleach. Her head was covered in Liquid Plumber," Bennett added.
Police declined to confirm Bennett's observations. No one lives at the house except the woman and her son, who has been questioned, Siufanua said, but is not considered a suspect.
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