Slain Bonita woman surprised burglars before killing

BONITA SPRINGS, Fla. A 34-year-old woman surprised burglars at her Bonita Springs home in the moments before she was killed last month, according to an obituary.

Sarah Nicholson was found dead just before 6 a.m. after a fire at her home on the 26000 block of Squire Lane.

Authorities released few details about the homicide, but an obituary dated Nov. 17 in the Southwest Times Record of Fort Smith, Ark., where she was born, sheds light on the life of the woman it refers to as Dr. Sarah Androes.

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She earned her doctorate in education leadership earlier this year, and had a master’s in literature and a bachelor’s in broadcast journalism. She helped track Hurricane Irma with a mobile satellite uplink provided by Jim Cantore, according to the obit.

She used the uplink to summon EMS to rescue a heart attack victim, and during the power outage that followed, she bought a generator and food to help animals dying from heat exhaustion at a nearby animal shelter, the obit reads.

“She loved everybody,” friend David Gilbert told KFSM-TV. “If she saw someone that needed something and she had it, it was theirs.”

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Irma forced her to shut down the small business she ran out of her home, which sustained severe damage in the storm. She often posted about the venture, called Southern Belle Gems and Smells, on social media.

A funeral was held Saturday in Arkansas. No arrests have been made.