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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Police are investigating the death of a woman whose body was found inside a Parsons section home as suspicious.</p><p>City police said they responded to 181 Matson Ave. on Friday to perform a welfare check on a female at that address. Upon arrival, the occupant was found to be deceased.</p><p>&#8220;The manner of death is unknown at this time and the death is being initially ruled suspicious pending an autopsy,&#8221; a statement posted to the Wilkes-Barre Police Department Facebook page indicated.</p><p>City police as well as the Wilkes-Barre Detective Division, Luzerne County Coroner&#8217;s Office, county District Attorney&#8217;s Office and a state police forensic unit were called to the scene.</p><p>The identity of the woman was not released.</p><p>Wilkes-Barre detectives obtained a search warrant for the apartment. Coroner Frank Hacken and two of his deputies removed the woman&#8217;s body from her apartment around 5 p.m. Hacken referred questions to the police and district attorney&#8217;s office.</p><p>Further information about the death was not immediately released.</p><p>A second-floor tenant said he did not hear anything out of the ordinary in the woman&#8217;s apartment.</p><p>&#8220;Not a thing, that&#8217;s why I&#8217;m thinking it was when I&#8217;m away, &#8217;cause I leave at 4:30, 5 o&#8217;clock in the morning. I don&#8217;t get home until like 5 (p.m.) or 6 (p.m.) so,&#8221; said Gary Birt.</p><p>&#8220;I think it happened in the daytime. I really do,&#8221; Birt, 70, said, adding, &#8220; I&#8217;m thinking Monday or Tuesday. I was away all day Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.&#8221;</p><p>Birt said he would say &#8220;Hi&#8221; to the woman.&#8220;The last time I saw her she seemed very pleasant,&#8221; he said.</p><p>Birt said he was uncertain of her name. &#8220;I keep to myself,&#8221; he said.</p><p>Anyone with information related to this incident, or who has any knowledge of any suspicious activity in this area is asked to call the Wilkes-Barre Police Detective Division at 570-208-4225 or 570-208-0911 and ask for detectives Stash or Jensen.</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/web1_TTL122119ParsonsDeath_1-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">State police forensic investigators wait outside 181 Matson Ave. in the Parsons section of Wilkes-Barre on Friday afternoon. City police said they responded to 181 Matson Ave. on Friday to perform a welfare check on a female at that address. Upon arrival, the occupant was found to be deceased. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/web1_TTL122119ParsonsDeath_1-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>State police forensic investigators wait outside 181 Matson Ave. in the Parsons section of Wilkes-Barre on Friday afternoon. City police said they responded to 181 Matson Ave. on Friday to perform a welfare check on a female at that address. Upon arrival, the occupant was found to be deceased. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/web1_TTL122119ParsonsDeath_2-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">A state police forensic photographer takes pictures at the rear of 181 Matson Ave. in Wilkes-Barre on Friday afternoon. City police said they responded to 181 Matson Ave. on Friday to perform a welfare check on a female at that address. Upon arrival, the occupant was found to be deceased. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/web1_TTL122119ParsonsDeath_2-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>A state police forensic photographer takes pictures at the rear of 181 Matson Ave. in Wilkes-Barre on Friday afternoon. City police said they responded to 181 Matson Ave. on Friday to perform a welfare check on a female at that address. Upon arrival, the occupant was found to be deceased. </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/web1_TTL122119ParsonsDeath_3-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">A state police forensic photographer and members of the Luzerne County Coroner&#8217;s Office enter the rear of 181 Matson Ave. in the Parsons section of Wilkes-Barre on Friday afternoon. City police said they responded to 181 Matson Ave. on Friday to perform a welfare check on a female at that address. Upon arrival, the occupant was found to be deceased. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/web1_TTL122119ParsonsDeath_3-1.jpg</photo2><caption2>A state police forensic photographer and members of the Luzerne County Coroner&#8217;s Office enter the rear of 181 Matson Ave. in the Parsons section of Wilkes-Barre on Friday afternoon. City police said they responded to 181 Matson Ave. on Friday to perform a welfare check on a female at that address. Upon arrival, the occupant was found to be deceased. </caption2><photoCredit2></photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Death believe suspicious; autopsy planned</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jerry Lynott</p><p>jlynott@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div>

Woman’s body found in Parsons home; death believed suspicious