Slaying Shocks Neighbor

News of slaying shocks neighbor

REVIEW-JOURNAL

Shirley Long and her husband have never had a problem with crime in their Las Vegas neighborhood of more than 30 years, so Friday's news was unexpected and troubling. "We're in shock," Long said Saturday, a day after her longtime neighbor, 84-year-old Dorothy Sargent, was found dead in her home on the 2200 block of Isabelle Avenue, near Eastern and Stewart avenues.

Investigators said Sargent had been killed. Police made the discovery Friday afternoon after Sargent's son, who lives on the East Coast, had been unable to reach her for a couple of days.

Neighbors said that Sargent would wave to them when she picked up her newspaper or mowed her lawn, but that she usually kept to herself. She had lived alone since her husband died in the early 1980s, Long said.

When he died, Long went door to door and took a money collection. When she tried to give it to Sargent, however, the widow said she would prefer the money go to a charity, Long said. Sargent and her husband bought the house in 1963. Despite being longtime neighbors, Long said, Sargent's solitude kept them from knowing each other well.

"It kind of gives you a creepy feeling to think something like that happened to someone you know," Long said.

Anyone with information on the slaying can call homicide detectives at 229-3521 or leave anonymous tips with Crime Stoppers at 385-5555. Find this article at: http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2005/Dec-11-Sun-2005/news/4733948.html