Ebony Bowden, The New York Post, November 13, 2019

The body of an American woman has been found gagged and bound in the Dominican Republic — and authorities believe she was tortured and murdered during a burglary, according to local media reports.

Patricia Ann Anton, 63, a teacher on the island, was discovered dead inside her home in the province of Puerto Plata on Tuesday morning with her hands and feet tied up. Authorities are ruling she died of strangulation, local newspaper Lopez Doriga reported.

Authorities found Stanton’s body on her bed with a gag in her mouth and said there were signs the Michigan woman had been tortured, Dominican National Police spokesman Frank Felix Duran told local media.

Anton’s cellphone, laptop and plasma television were missing and there were signs her cupboards had been ransacked, leading police to believe she was killed during a robbery.

But there were no signs of forced entry, suggesting Anton may have been killed by someone she knew, Duran said. An investigation is ongoing and no suspects have been identified.

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