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Woman found murdered in closet in Pontiac

Posted at 1:36 PM, Apr 23, 2016
and last updated 2016-04-24 00:11:53-04

Oakland County investigators are looking for a felon on parole after finding his girlfriend murdered and stuffed in a closet.

It happened in the victim's home on the 100 block of Ridgemont in Pontiac.

Marie Colburn was just 30 years old and working in the insurance business, according to her aunt.

"She had a beautiful laugh, beautiful smile and a loving heart," Colburn's aunt says through tears.

Investigators say Colburn's parents stopped by their daughter's Pontiac apartment on Friday after not being able to contact her for several days. They looked around the seemingly empty apartment and left.

Still worried, they returned an hour later to search the apartment again …

That's when they found their daughter stuffed in a closet with what deputies call obvious signs of trauma.

The medical examiner has ruled it a homicide and said she was suffocated to death.

Police say her vehicle was missing.

"She's loved and we’re devastated," says Colburn's aunt on behalf of the family.

Attached to the front door of the apartment is a notice from the Michigan Department of Corrections Dated on Thursday.

Oakland County Sheriff's Office says the message is for Colburn's boyfriend, 33-year-old Keith Wiley who is on parole for a manslaughter conviction.

They say Wiley hasn't contacted his parole officer and he cut off his GPS tether in Detroit. Police also found Colburn's car in Detroit, it's been taken to a forensics lab for testing.