More than a week after a woman's decomposing body was found in a Delaware County alley, police identified her as a missing Delaware woman.
Upper Darby police on Monday said that the body of 61-year-old Rosemary Byrne was found in the alley behind homes along Greenwood Avenue, off Church Lane, on Jan. 15. She had been missing for more than a month.
"We have identified the female decedent as Rosemary Byrne, a 61-year-old white female, who most-recently lived in Newark, Delaware," Upper Darby police said in a Facebook post. "Ms. Byrne was reported missing by a family member to the Darby Borough Police Department on December 12, 2022."
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Police said the identification was made in conjunction with the medical examiner's office and no cause of a death was revealed.
"We are working diligently to learn the circumstances by which Ms. (Byrne) passed, and we are asking the public for any and all help they can provide," police said.
Lauren Marie told NBC10 she had been friends with Byrne since they attended Upper Darby High School together in the late 70s. She described her as kind and generous.
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"Rose was the kind of person that would give you the shirt off her back," Marie said. "She heard I was sick and she jumped on a plane and was by my bedside within 24 hours. That's what kind of person she was."
Marie said she was shocked by the news of her friend's death.
"She had a good family," Marie said. "It's just mind blowing. She had so many friends. I can't imagine who did this and why they would do it."
Investigators urged anyone with information to call 610-734-7693.
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