UPDATE: Police Investigating "Suspicious" Death of Dianne Hughes

Sgt. Jeff Nicks, of the Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety, confirmed Wednesday morning that police are investigating the death of a 66-year-old woman in her B Section home as a homicide.

The woman, who was found dead in her living room, was identified by the Sonoma County coroner's office as Dianne Hughes. Nicks said she suffered blunt force trauma injuries, and there was blood evidence at the scene, though he couldn't confirm details.

"We don't want to speculate as to the cause of death," Nicks said. "We'll know more after the autopsy."

Hughes was pronounced dead in her Bernice Avenue home at 12:43 p.m. Tuesday, shortly after her body was found. Police said her 2005 white Toyota Highlander was missing from the driveway. License plate number is 5SGC869.

Neighbor Richard Markovich said Hughes moved into her home in the mid-1970s.

"We rarely saw her. She didn't seem to have many visitors," Markovich said.

He said Hughes had a daughter around 40 years old who lives in Oregon and a son who lives in Rohnert Park. Markovich said police initially arrived at the house around 9 a.m. Tuesday but left because they could not get inside. They came back and entered through the garage around noon, he said. 

Nicks confirmed that family members called police early Tuesday, asking authorities to check on the woman. The first call came in shortly after 8 a.m., Nicks said, but nothing seemed suspicious. Her vehicle had been missing from her driveway, however, and family members were concerned.

Another call from the victim's daughter came in around 11 a.m., when she let officers in to the house.

"That's when we discovered the deceased in the living room," Nicks said.

Police said they collected evidence after securing a search warrant, and are working around the clock on the investigation.

"We collected some evidence based on the search warrant, Nicks said. "We are working some leads and investigating information we got yesterday."

Nicks said he'll know more after the autopsy.

"We are sending detectives to attend the autopsy and get more specific answers to the type of injuries the victim sustained," he said.

Neighbors provided some information, though the relevance is unknown.

Markovich said there was a large party across the street from Hughes' home on Sunday.

"There must have been 10 or 20 cars," he said.

Police are asking for the public's help. Anyone with any information about the victim or the whereabouts of her vechicle is urged to call 707-584-5600. Bay City News contributed to this report.