Family seeking answers in woman's suspicious death in Minneapolis

Family looks for answers in Mpls woman's death

A family is mourning and looking for answers after 57-year-old Felisha Smith was found death outside a church in Minneapolis back in July. FOX 9's Mike Manzoni has the story.

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Nearly seven weeks after a woman was found dead on the side of a Minneapolis church her family is still searching for answers.

What happened?

Felisha Smith, 57, of Minneapolis, disappeared after she signed herself out of The Estates at Chateau, a long-term care facility where she lived, her family said.

She made her way to Chicago Lake Liquors on East Lake Street, they said. The next day, July 14, a pastor at Spirit of the Lord Church found her body on the side of the building, they said.

"[She was] covered with a blanket from the neck down, pants removed," said her daughter Shari Smith.

Shari Smith said the medical examiner’s office said her mother was sexually assaulted before she was killed. She said when she identified her body she noticed trauma on her mother's face.

The Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office hasn’t released a cause or manner of death.

What the family is saying

"She was a loving, kind, compassionate mother of nine children and just a wonderful, beautiful soul,"Shari Smith said.

She said her mother survived a shooting in 2014 that left her with a traumatic brain injury, and she fears someone may have taken advantage of her.

"My concerns are for community awareness, that the public be made aware that there’s someone on the loose who is doing horrific things," Shari Smith continued.