Her well-manicured yard, neatly arranged with flowers, shrubs and cut grass, was surrounded by two lines of yellow police tape as investigators from the Chatham County Sheriff's Office and State Bureau of Investigation walked in and out the home.

Deputies were called to 29 Red Pine Road about 9:10 a.m. to check on a woman whose parents hadn't heard from her in a week, police said. What they found was the body of Tracy Lynn Baldwin, 38. Investigators consider her death a homicide.

The time of death was estimated to be within 48 hours before her body was found, said Maj. Gary Blankenship of the Chatham sheriff's department. The cause of death was undetermined, and her body was sent to the State Medical Examiner for an autopsy.

Those who lived around Baldwin said she kept to herself. But gardening was how Kelly Williams, 41, got to know her. A friendly wave, borrowing yard tools, sharing plants and the occasional chatter was how they associated with one another.

Having lived on Red Pine Road for 12 years, she said that police usually respond to petty theft and break-ins in the area, not homicides.

"She loved life," Williams said of Baldwin. "She loved to bike. It's hard to see the yard transformed into a crime scene."

Jerry Martin, who lived up the street from Baldwin, described the area as one with many established, friendly neighbors. He met her while they were walking their dogs when she moved to the neighborhood about three years ago. Martin also did some odds and ends around her home, like fixing the toilet and installing light switches.

"Everybody's devastated because we don't know what's going on," said Martin, 59. "You don't feel so secure in the neighborhood if it is [a homicide]."