Police are investigating as a homicide the death of a woman whose body was found on Monday, Dec. 14 in her Essex home.

The victim is Shelly Lynn Fillion, 47, of the unit block of Skipjack Court in Essex. A family member who checked on Fillion yesterday afternoon found the woman's body and notified police. Fillion had not contacted her family since Saturday.

Police were dispatched at about 5 p.m. Monday. They found Fillion's body located partially under a pull-out sofa in the living room. The woman had suffered traumatic injuries. The Office of the Medical Examiner will rule on the exact cause and manner of death, but police are treating this as a homicide.

The case remains under investigation, but detectives do not believe this was a random act.