Neighbors leery after slaying of Jo Anne DeSha in Chattanooga

As family members lay a 75-year-old woman to rest today, Chattanooga police still are working to find her killer.

Jo Anne DeSha was in her home Saturday morning at 2302 Marco Circle when someone attacked her. She was choked to death with the cord of a vacuum cleaner, according to police.

There was no forced entry to her home, which occupied the corner lot leading into the Meadowbrook Heights subdivision.

Black dust from where investigators tried to lift fingerprints was still smeared on the home’s pale blue front door Thursday afternoon.

It was a challenge for investigators to collect physical evidence from the small home built in 1961. Clutter and dust hindered their efforts, they said, and it’s unclear if anything was taken.