Caretaker accused of murdering 70-year-old patient found entombed in concrete

A caretaker hired by a family to care for a 70-year-old woman in North Carolina is now accused of murdering her and burying the victim’s body in cement.

On Aug. 7, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office apprehended Elizabeth Katherine Carserino, who went by Elizabeth Freeman, on outstanding Avery County warrants for identity theft, larceny of motor vehicle and financial card theft. The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation then charged the 53-year-old suspect, who was in the hospital shortly before her arrest for an alleged drug issue, with murder, Charlotte's WBTV reported.

Family reported Lynn Gay Keene missing on July 30 after they hadn’t heard from since June 14.

Officers went to Keene’s home and reported the residence was secure but the elderly woman’s Lincoln Town car was missing. Investigators then obtained a search warrant for the property after they located the abandoned vehicle, which had two empty 80-pound bags of concrete mixture in the trunk.

When Detective Tim Austin opened the basement door, he and another detective noted “a large amount of flies and that’s an indicator of something deceased.”

Investigators discovered Keene's body in the basement entombed in cement. “She had blunt force trauma to the head as well as strangulation by ligature; it was a belt,” Austin said.

Surveillance video from a store allegedly shows Carserino driving the victim’s vehicle and using her bank card, WBTV reported.

Carserino is being held on a $1.625 million bond in the Avery County Detention Center.