Visiting nurse found dead in basement of patient’s home in ‘deeply troubling’ case: Police

(WILLIMANTIC, Conn.) — A visiting nurse was found dead in the basement of a patient’s home in Connecticut, according to police, in what they called a “deeply troubling case.”

The nurse was reported missing by family on Saturday, according to the Willimantic Police Department. She had missed several appointments that day and a family member tracked her phone to the address of her first patient, scheduled for 8 a.m. ET that day, according to an affidavit.

Officers later found her red Hyundai at a business near the residence and a K-9 unit tracked her scent back to the home, police said.

Authorities learned that the patient who lived at the home — identified as 38-year-old Michael Reese — had a probation-issued ankle bracelet that alerted signs of tampering, according to the affidavit. Police observed him appearing to leave the home from the back door and he was detained, police said.

After he was detained, officers searched the residence and found the body of the woman in the basement, police said. Her name and cause of death have not been released.

Reese was found carrying a small paring knife, a crack pipe, debit and credit cards belonging to an individual whose name was redacted and a Hyundai key fob, according to the affidavit. He was arrested on charges unrelated to the deceased woman.

Reese is a registered sex offender with “violent tendencies,” the affidavit stated.

“This is a deeply troubling case on many levels, and one of the worst cases I have seen in 27 years in law enforcement,” Willimantic Police Chief Paul M. Hussey said in a statement. “Our condolences go out to the family of the victim.”

Connecticut State Police have taken over the investigation. No further details have been released.

No one has been charged in connection to the woman’s death.

Reese faces charges of violating probation, larceny and use of drug paraphernalia and was not present at his arraignment on Monday, New Haven ABC affiliate WTNH reported. He is currently being held on $1 million bond, online jail records show.

He was convicted of sexual assault in the first degree in 2007 and released in 2020, according to the state’s sex offender registry.

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