Just about everyone on her quiet street in east Baytown knew her.
"She's one of the best people I've ever known," said neighbor Linda Buchanan. "I grew up with her and her kids and have known her for 54 years. I just can't image anything like this happening. This neighborhood is so quiet."
It's so quiet, neighbors say, that they could hear Muckleroy's several small house dogs barking every time some entered her yard.
"Before you would get to knock on that door, those dogs are loud," said neighbor Isaac Smith. "They barked those, little bitty old dogs, we just don't understand it."
However Thursday morning, Muckelroy's neighbors we spoke to say they didn't hear or see anything and are surprised such a violent act happened without anyone noticing, including the Smiths who live across the street.
"We're all up and moving by that time," said neighbor Angela Smith. "That's why we can't believe nobody heard anything. This neighborhood starts moving at 6 o'clock in the morning. Everybody is moving; cars are going back and forth to work."
Muckelroy's green 1999 Chrysler Town and Country van with Texas license plate BHS 964 is missing. If you've seen it or know anything about this crime, you're asked to call Baytown police at 281-422-8371 or Crime Stoppers at 281-427-8477.
This is the third time in a week that an elderly woman has been fatally attacked in her home. Earlier this week, Joyce Mabel Cleveland, 78, was found dead on the floor of her northeast Houston home. It appears she was beaten to death. Authorities believe the suspects got in through a front window.
And last week, Lena Jean Britt, 83, was found dead under a mattress in her Texas City home. In thas case, her car was also taken. It had been set on fire and found burned out in Dickinson. Police do not believe there is any connection between the three murders.
