'Amazing' Nurse And Mom Known For Toy Drives Found Strangled To Death In Her Home

The boyfriend of a Colorado mother and nurse is being held on suspicion of first-degree murder after she was found strangled to death last week.

Police were called to a Lakewood home on Tuesday afternoon on a report of a missing person, the Lakewood Police Department said in a press release. However, when they arrived on the scene the investigation took a somber turn.

“When friends of the home’s resident arrived, they reported finding an adult female deceased inside the home,” the press release states. “It appears the victim died of strangulation.”

The victim, identified as 45-year-old Hilary Engel, was found strangled in her own home, the Denver Channel reports.

Hilary Engel and Karl Bemish Photo: Facebook; Lakewood Police Department

The suspect in the killing has been identified by police as Karl Aaron Bemish, 51. The Denver Channel has identified Bemish as the victim’s boyfriend. Investigators were able to track him to a hotel in Trinidad, Colorado a day after the body was discovered, local outlet KKTV reported.

Bemish is now being held on suspicion of first-degree murder. It’s unclear if he has a lawyer. 

Engel’s death has left her 8-year-old son without a mother. Her friend Traci Buntenbah told the Denver Channel that she was "an amazing mother, and a nurse" as well as "the most giving person" she had ever met.

Engel worked at Centura-St. Anthony Hospital. It was there that she “saved people's lives,” according to Buntenbah, who said that her pal “did not deserve this at all."

Buntenbah added that during her spare time, Engel gave back even more to the community.

"She did toy drives for kids,” Buntenbah told the Denver Channel. “She'd adopt families at Christmas time. She's just the type of person that was always looking for ways to help people and help strangers."