Death of Harvard woman found in Vermont ruled a homicide

Vermont officials ruled the death of 23-year-old Mary Anderson, from Harvard, Mass., a homicide after she was found dead from a gunshot wound to the head on Tuesday.

Anderson’s body was found in Brattleboro, Vermont early Tuesday morning in her blue 2017 Toyota Tacoma.

The Vermont State Police is working with other law enforcement agencies in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, to find details on where she had been headed when she went missing and at what point she was killed.

Anderson’s family told Boston 25 News that she had been hanging out with friends in Hudson, N.H. She was last seen on Saturday night around 10:30 p.m. Her family added that they suspected foul play in her disappearance.

“She’s never been away. This is very much unlike her,” Mary’s mother, Sheila Anderson, said Monday.

Police say her ex-boyfriend, Matthew Davis, 34, of Fitchburg was considered a person of interest in the disappearance and death of Anderson.

Davis died late Tuesday night after an officer-involved shooting in West Brattleboro after he ran from investigators trying to question him. Vermont State Police said Davis lunged at officers with a knife.

Investigators found Anderson’s cell phone in the area where Davis ran from police.

Davis’s autopsy results show that he died of gunshot wounds to the torso and the manner of his death is being ruled a homicide.

State Police noted that this was a medical finding and is not a legal determination regarding whether the shooting was justified. The Vermont Attorney General’s Office will conduct a separate review into whether the police shooting was justified.

Police asked that any member of the public who may have information that could help investigators to call the Vermont State Police Barracks in Westminster at 802-722-4600.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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