Suspicious death a shock for Paradise neighbour

The suspicious death of Patricia Anne Rice, 53, of Paradise was a sad shock for one of her neighbours.

Police recovered Rice's body on Wednesday evening in a field near Topsail Road. She had last been seen in the parking lot of a nearby Tim Horton's early on Tuesday morning.

Boyd Walters had been living four doors down the street from Rice and her boyfriend on Cedar Drive for the past nine years.

He said while he didn't know Rice very well, he did speak to her boyfriend George on occasion.

"I knew her boyfriend, you know, to say hello, and good day and carry him back and forth to the store," said Walters. "He seemed pretty nice. Never see Patricia a lot around, but you used to see George out a lot."

Walters said he spoke with George after Rice's body had been recovered.

"He didn't say too much, he just said he didn't know what happened that night, you know?" said Walters. "She just disappeared from the parking lot and other than that he didn't know until they found her the next day."

Since the discovery of Rice's body, the RNC's Major Crime Unit, Simon Avis, the province's chief medical examiner, and members of the Rovers Ground Search and Rescue team have been combing the area in an effort to find out what happened to Rice.

The RNC said it won't release more information until they get the results of Rice's autopsy.