News 12 First at Five / Thursday August, 26, 2010

AUGUSTA, Ga.---"He has to be filled with Satan. His mind's got to be twisted," a family member reacts to the murder arrest.

It was the news many along Wrightsboro Road didn't want to hear. Investigators confirm the naked body found late Wednesday night in the woods is that of 54-year-old Patricia Burley, or Miss Pat as she was called.

She went missing Sunday. Investigators say she was found naked, strangled and sexually assaulted with her arms and feet tied.

Church members have already placed a bow on the front row pew where Pat Burley sat every day, all to keep the memory of the loving, caring woman in their hearts.

It's been a long three days for family and friends of Pat Burley. Word that the 54-year-old woman with Down Syndrome was found murdered spread quickly.

"Pat is not blood, but she's a part of our family," says friend and fellow church member Johnnie Young.

"I can't even think of one human being in this whole entire world that would think to bring harm to Patricia Burley," says Pat's cousin Penny Hobbs.

Investigators found Pat's body late Wednesday night when a man stumbled across it in the woods. Hours later, the crime scene is still being guarded.

"The momentum and the direction of the evidence is really starting to mount very quickly," says Richmond County Sheriff's Captain Scott Peebles.

Investigators have charged 29-year-old Corey Smith with murder. He's the last person seen with Pat Sunday night. They say forensic evidence ties him to the murder.

"He could have let her go, she wouldn't have been able to identify him, she wouldn't have known her way home," says Young.

"You've not just hurt me, you've hurt a thousand other people and for what reason? What satisfaction did you get out if it?" Says Hobbs.

Monday morning investigators say Smith was seen stealing a large trash can, a trash can they believe he used to dump Pat's body.

"Why did he do her like this? What made him hate her? He had to hate her," asks Hobbs.

"It's devastating, it's painful, it's so sad, it's heavy," adds Young.

Investigators say family, friends, church members are responsible for not only helping find Pat but also her alleged killer too.

"To each and every one of you people that helped in the search for Pat, I want to thank you so very much. I just wish there was some kind of miracle that we could get together and bring her back," says Hobbs.

Because of decomposition, Pat Burley has not yet been positively identified by the coroner, but investigators say there is no doubt she is the victim here.

Initially investigators weren't saying what evidence they had or what the motive was, but Pat's autopsy was completed late Thursday afternoon and now investigators say she was strangled, left naked, her arms and feet bound, and she was sexually assaulted. They believe that could be the motive.