Residents of a neighborhood in Central Las Cruces looked on as a body was taken from inside a house and into a vehicle nearby. This neighborhood was transformed into a homicide scene around lunch time.

"I don't know what happened, but from what they told me, it's sad," said Sophia Hernandez, a resident a block away from the crime scene.

Las Cruces police detectives received a call about a woman not responding inside this home on the 1200 block of Skyway Drive.

"Somebody was doing maintenance at the home or checking up on maintenance and discovered her inside," said Las Cruces Police Department spokesman Dan Trujillo.

Now, detectives are investigating the slaying of an elderly woman who they believed lived at the home by herself. Police officials couldn't release information on how the woman was killed or how the assailant got inside.

"Right now, there's no indication, or at least we don't know if it was forced or not. All we know that we have a body that's inside," said Trujillo.  Residents in the neighborhood said after this incident and what they heard happened, they don't feel safe.

"Just the fact that someone died a few houses down, it would make anyone feel uncomfortable," said Hernandez.  Las Cruces police are following some leads, but anyone who has information that may be relevant to this case is asked to call Las Cruces Crime Stoppers at 526-8000.