Mystery woman in Montgomery County doorbell video identified as domestic violence victim

PHOTOS: Shooting answers mystery Deputies with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office investigate a shooting in the 18400 block of Sunrise Pines in the Sunrise Ranch subdivision on Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2018, in Montgomery. >>Learn more about the shooting and how it's related to a mystery woman seen on video ... less PHOTOS: Shooting answers mystery Deputies with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office investigate a shooting in the 18400 block of Sunrise Pines in the Sunrise Ranch subdivision on Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2018, in ... more Photo: Jason Fochtman, Staff Photographer Photo: Jason Fochtman, Staff Photographer Image 1 of / 57 Caption Close Mystery woman in Montgomery County doorbell video identified as domestic violence victim 1 / 57 Back to Gallery

In just one week, a growing subdivision near Lake Conroe has seen its share of door-knocking detectives seeking clues on a bell-ringing mystery woman who now has been revealed as a victim of domestic violence.

A resident of the Sunrise Ranch neighborhood about 54 miles north of Houston woke the morning of Aug. 24 to the sound of his doorbell ringing. The culprit was gone when he got out of bed to answer the door.

Who he found when he checked on his security camera was a woman with apparent restraints dangling from her wrists whose well-being sparked a world of concern and global intrigue.

The woman became the talk of a now-viral video circulated by the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office on Sunday with internet sleuths pondering her identity and the circumstances leading up to her outing.

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Lt. Scott Spencer, a spokesman for the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office, answered several lingering questions about the woman after a gunshot Wednesday morning inside a home in the same neighborhood.

The woman, he said, is 32 and believed to be a victim of domestic violence. She was living at the home in the 18400 block of Sunrise Pines with her 49-year-old boyfriend who was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound after deputies entered the home.

The deputies were called to the home around 11:40 a.m. for a welfare check after the man is believed to have made suicidal comments. He was not identified, and his girlfriend was not home when police arrived.

"We can confirm she is safe and is with family at this time," Spencer said at a press conference, adding that she is in the Dallas area.

He said investigators were on their way to interview her. He confirmed that a restraint was looped around both wrists when she was shown on video, a version of which has been viewed more than 290,000 times on the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office Youtube page.

A suicide note found at the couple's home elaborated on the circumstances leading up to her appearance on the footage, Spencer said.

The couple was relatively new to the subdivision and rarely went outside, according to neighbors. A former resident of the home where the couple lived said he sold the property to a rental management company.

"They weren't very social. I've never seen them and I live next door," said Shana Torres.

The release of a seven-second-long clip showing the woman's apparent search for help inspired some worried residents to track her down. Torres, along with her neighbor Becky Albrecht and friend Tina Steele, spent four hours combing the thick woods behind the subdivision for signs of the woman.

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She is believed to have knocked on a number of doors in the neighborhood with about 150 houses packed onto four streets the same night the security video caught her on camera.

"The night she was going door-to-door, my husband and I were in the garage," Albrecht said. "Never heard anything or talked to her."

Another neighbor, Diana Schamp, is certain her family would have helped the woman. Her daughter lives close to where the couple resided.

"My grandson was up. I'm sure he would have let her in if she had made it," Schamp said.

The night of the surveillance footage find, another resident, John Bradley, spotted a white truck cruising the neighborhood. That same vehicle was taken into evidence at the home where the couple lived, Bradley said.

Spencer declined to identify the woman during the press conference, due to her being a victim of domestic violence. He confirmed that she was not the subject of a missing persons report anywhere in the nation.

nicole.hensley@chron.com

@nkhensley