Updated: Lexington woman, 62, found dead in her home had been missing for weeks
The death of a Lexington woman found in her home — after disappearing weeks earlier — has been ruled a homicide as police investigate.
The woman, 62-year-old Ava Creech, was attacked and had been dead for “some time” when she was found Oct. 2, Lexington police spokeswoman Brenna Angel said. It took the Fayette County coroner’s office several days to identify Creech’s body. Creech lived in the 4100 block of Victoria Way, according to the coroner’s office.
“It appears the victim may have known her attacker,” Angel said Friday. The circumstances of Creech’s death were still being investigated.
Creech was reported missing and her car was reported stolen in September, Angel said. Police had gone to her home prior to Oct. 2, Angel said, but the body was found as a result of further investigation.
Creech’s car has since been recovered, Lexington police said. William Brown, a 51-year-old Morgantown resident, was charged with receiving stolen property after he was seen driving and exiting the stolen vehicle on video surveillance, according to an arrest citation. Brown was also in possession of some of Creech’s belongings, according to Lexington police.
He was charged with receiving stolen property of $10,000 or more and being a felon in possession of a handgun after he was found with a revolver, according to court records. He was being held Friday in the Lexington-Fayette County Detention Center and was not allowed to post bond, according to court records.
Creech’s friends said she had been missing since Sept. 11, and they shared thoughts about her on social media the day after her body was found.
“I love you baby Girl & GOD KNOWS I wish you were here,” Rhonda Hamm said in her Facebook post.
“I miss her every day, she had a heart of gold,” Christy Simpson said in a Facebook post on Oct. 3.
A private service was scheduled for Saturday.
“Ava was taken from this earth way before her time and we can only hope now that she is in a better place free of pain and sorrow,” her obituary said. “She was a mother, daughter, sister and grandmother. She will be missed very much.”
The Lexington Police Department has asked anyone with information on the case to contact investigators by calling (859) 258-3600. Anonymous tips can be submitted to Bluegrass Crime Stoppers by calling (859) 253-2020, online at www.bluegrasscrimestoppers.com, or through the P3 tips app available at www.p3tips.com.
This story was originally published October 9, 2020 at 10:28 AM.