LITTLE ROCK — A woman whose skeletal remains were found in a well at Little Rock in 2000 has been identified as the victim of a slaying that occurred in 1996 in Fayetteville, and her daughter and former son-in-law have been arrested and charged in her death, police said Tuesday.
Police say Goldie Thornsberry’s remains were discovered in 2000 in a well in west Little Rock by two people doing a survey of potential development in the area. Her hands had been cut off and her teeth pulled out and a leg was missing. Investigators said Thornsberry’s body was probably mutilated in an attempt to keep her from being identified.
The remains were identified as those of Thornsberry, 65, of Fayetteville, after a police reconstruction of what the victim’s face probably looked like was shown on Little Rock television station KTHV, Little Rock police officer Bruce Jones said.
The picture was aired in May during a cold case segment on KTHV, the station reported. Jones said that soon after the broadcast, a friend of Thornsberry called and said she had known the person whose face had just been shown on television.
Once that identity was established, police said, an investigation led to the arrests Tuesday at Little Rock of Reta Flowers, Thornsberry’s daughter, and Flowers’ former husband, Raymond Douglas. Thornsberry lived with the couple in Fayetteville while Flowers and Douglas were still married, police said.
After the slaying, officers say, the couple moved to Little Rock and brought the remains with them. The couple has since divorced.
Police did not provide any information about a motive for the slaying, or how Thornsberry was killed.