Homicide victim called 'sweet spirited' as police track leads

The pastor of her church remembered Denise Leuthold as a "kind-hearted" and "sweet-spirited" woman on Monday as her family prepared to bury her and police hunted down leads in the investigation of her death.

Few new details of the slaying Thursday at 700 W. Mossville Road emerged from a press conference called mostly to assure a skittish public that every effort is being made to solve the apparent burglary-turned-homicide.

"I want the public to be assured we are working on this case feverishly," said Chief Steve Settingsgaard. "Every lead is being followed."

Leuthold, 39, was found just inside the front door of the home she shared with her parents, children and husband Thursday afternoon with a single gunshot wound to the head. Police were first called to the home to take a burglary report.

She and her husband, Nathan, have spent the last 15 years back and forth between the United States and Lithuania, working as missionaries. They have been living at the Mossville Road address with the woman's parents, Doug and Diane Newton, since returning to the country more than a year ago.

The pastor at the church the couple attended in the area described Denise Leuthold as an embodiment of Christian values.

"She was a very kind, compassionate, Godly lady," said Pastor David Sexton of LaMarsh Baptist Church in Mapleton. "She was a tremendous mother to her children. … She was a very good example of what a Christian should be."

For more complete details, read tomorrow's Journal Star or check pjstar.com later.


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