MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A missing 83-year-old woman from Memphis was found dead, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said Wednesday.
Rebecca Seay had been the subject of a statewide Silver Alert since March 2 and a Memphis City Watch since March 1. The City Watch was issued on February 13.
TBI did not say where or when Seay’s body was found, or what the cause of death may have been.
“We are grateful to all who helped in the effort to find her, and our deepest sympathies for the Seay family,” TBI said in a release.
According to police, officers were called to do a welfare check on Seay at a home in the 300 block of Montgomery Street in Midtown.
When officers checked the home, they were told that Seay was in an unknown rehab facility. Police checked all rehab facilities, but Seay had not been found.
Memphis Police confirmed to WREG Seay’s remains were located in a garden in the 300 block of Montgomery Street, the same location that was listed as her address in the City Watch.
Shirley Carroll has lived in the neighborhood for 20 years. She said investigators first searched the basement and returned days later putting up a tent.
“They don’t know how long she been down in that ground like that because they say she been missing for three months or so,” Carroll said.
It was a scary sight for those living nearby.
“Just like everybody else I was kind of in shock you know it was next door to me,” Carroll said. “If it’s a senior citizen or elderly person around I think they family members should check on them every day.”
A body was found by police near that location last week. Authorities have not said whether the body was Seay’s.
Police say as of right now, this is only considered a death investigation.
