Missing Texas Woman Found Slain, Body In Freezer

Follow CBSDFW.COM: Facebook | Twitter

TYLER (AP) — The body of a missing East Texas woman has been found in a freezer on the property where she lived with her son and he died in a standoff with law officers.

Smith County Sheriff Larry Smith says the body of Frances Barton was located Thursday, a day after the standoff near Tyler that left Kenneth Barton dead.

Smith says it appears the woman, who was 78 when last seen alive in 2013, died by violent means. An autopsy was ordered.

Smith says investigators believe her 61-year-old son fatally shot himself Wednesday as officers tried to serve a warrant in the search for his mother. Kenneth Barton then started his house on fire.

The son had told family and friends that his mother was on a mission trip to Europe.

(© Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)