Crime & Safety

Dead Woman Identified As Lake Elsinore Resident

Lake Elsinore resident Jeanette Howard, 66, was pronounced dead at 5:10 p.m. Sunday after police discovered her lifeless body in a home located at 32560 Payne Street.

The coroner’s office has identified the woman

Lake Elsinore resident Jeanette Howard, 66, was pronounced dead at 5:10 p.m. Sunday after police discovered her lifeless body in a home located at 32560 Payne Street.

Howard was a homicide victim, according to the Riverside County Coroner’s Office,

Find out what's happening in Lake Elsinore-Wildomarwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The coroner’s office stated Monday that the woman’s lethal injuries were sustained at the Payne Street home, but her time and date of death are unknown, according to the coroner’s office.

Authorities received a call at approximately 4:50 p.m. Sunday about a body at the residence.

Find out what's happening in Lake Elsinore-Wildomarwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Police have a suspect in the case.

Officials would not confirm, but police scanner chatter on Sunday indicated that a man called into emergency dispatch and reported killing his wife. It is not clear who made the call or whether Howard and the dead woman were married.

Payne Street neighbors have told Patch they never heard or saw a crime take place at the residence where the body was found. Instead, they say the home seemed abandoned.

"We’ve always thought that house was vacant. It was always closed up … there were sheets on the windows," Lori Day, 44, told Patch Sunday.

“In four months I have never seen anybody at that house. I’ve never seen a wife at that house," Day said. "Nobody watering the yard," she said. “Nothing’s ever open. The windows are never open. The blinds are never open."

Just once in all that time, Day said she spotted a man drive out of the garage, back up and close the garage door.

Clarence Fulton, 77, said he’d occasionally see Howard and another man at the residence, but not a female.

“I can’t remember ever seeing a woman,” he said Monday morning, noting that he had only spoken to Howard once, during a quick passing at the local Home Depot store.

Javier Hernandez, 52, lives in the neighborhood and said he remembers Howard moving in around 1995, but thought the house might now be abandoned because the weeds are high, the windows are covered, and debris in the yard hasn’t been touched.

Speaking through an interpreter – his niece, Daisy Hernandez, 16 – Hernandez said he saw a car go in and out of the Payne Street garage regularly, but he couldn’t say for certain who was driving or whether anyone was actually living at the home.

However, Hernandez is sure the driver wasn’t female: He has not seen a woman at the Payne Street house for at least six months, he said.

“They hardly ever came outside,” he said of the men spotted at the residence. “It seemed like the house was alone.”

According to jail records, Howard is due to appear in court on June 20. --Daniel Lane contributed to this report.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.