COBB COUNTY, Ga — A Cobb County woman is charged with murdering a relative who police believe could be her own mother.

According to the arrest warrant, Gretchen Fortney is accused of hitting 78-year-old Martha Fortney with an unknown object or objects and strangling her to death.

Cobb County Police were called to the home along Loch Highland Pass in Roswell around 5:10 a.m. on Sept. 30.

When officers arrived, they found the victim in the doorway of a bedroom. Police say the victim’s husband told them that when he found his deceased wife, his daughter was standing near the body.

But when officers arrived they say Gretchen Fortney had already left the home. Officers found her a few blocks away from the home and arrested her. She is charged with murder and aggravated assault.

Neighbors say the victim lived in the subdivision for a while. At one point she was a part of the older people’s pickleball team.

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