DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla. – When an out-of-town man couldn't reach a friend in Deerfield Beach for several days, he called the Broward Sheriff's Office to check on her.
Deputies went to her apartment twice Thursday but got no response from anyone inside. When they returned Friday morning and entered the apartment, they discovered the 68-year-old woman's body, hidden inside a garment bag in a bedroom closet.
BSO homicide detectives arrested the woman's roommate early Saturday in Fort Lauderdale.
Jacqueline Luongo, 44, was arrested on a charge of first-degree murder.
BSO spokeswoman Dani Moschella said the victim's friend hadn't been in contact with her since she was released from jail Aug. 28. Moschella said Luongo called deputies Aug. 27 to say the victim had assaulted her and that she had a warrant for a probation violation. The victim was arrested and released the next day.
It wasn't immediately known when the victim was killed, but Moschella said her body had apparently been in the closet for several days. She had a plastic bag over her head and tape wrapped around her head, covering her mouth and nose.
Detectives have been unable to reach her family to notify them of her death, so her name has not been released.
Early Saturday morning, Fort Lauderdale police received a tip that Luongo was in room 105 of the Crossland studio apartments on Commercial Boulevard, where she was taken into custody.
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