Police in the Dominican Republic have arrested six people in connection with the death of American teacher Patricia Ann Anton, who was found strangled in her apartment last week.

Anton, 63, was robbed and killed in Puerto Plata, on the country’s northern coast, Dominican national police said. Police announced her death Nov. 12.

Patty Anton. via Facebook

National police on Sunday said six men, including two nationals, have been arrested in the robbery and murder. Police are searching for one other whom they have called a fugitive.

Anton, who died from asphyxiation, was found strangled and bound in her apartment, police said. A cellphone, a 40-inch television and around $80 in cash were stolen.

The seven people accused in the slaying are thought to have traveled to Puerto Plata "to commit criminal acts in that city," the national police statement says.

Anton was a teacher and consultant at a Montessori school, where she worked for six years. Her cousin, Adrianne Machina, said she is "heartbroken" and devastated by her death.

"I can't imagine what kind of monster could do something like that to such a kind soul," Machina said last week.

According to the school's website, Anton was born in Italy and spent "a large portion of her life traveling with her family before settling down in Michigan to raise her own family."

She also served as a legislative aide at the Michigan State Capital and volunteered in Guatemala City, Guatemala, and Matagorda in the Dominican Republic prior to joining 3 Mariposas Montessori's faculty.