Police have identified a 70-year-old Watertown woman who was found dead inside her home in what police are now investigating as a homicide.

Maryann Kibbe-Stanisz was found dead  Wednesday at her 24 Bushnell Ave. home in the Oakville section of Watertown when police say they were responding to a welfare check around 2:30 p.m.

Chief of Police John C. Gavallas spoke at a press conference Thursday and says Watertown officers discovered Kibbe-Stanisz lying face down and unresponsive inside the home. She was later pronounced dead.

Gavallas say Kibbe-Stanisz sustained injuries to her head, but that a medical examiner will have to determine an official cause of death.

Police say Kibbe-Stanisz's gray-colored Chrysler PT Cruiser was also missing from the driveway. Investigators say they located the missing car hours later abandoned in a parking lot next to Lit Ultra Lounge in Waterbury. They say the car keys were not at the scene of the car. 

They say Kibbe-Stanisz lived alone and may have been assaulted inside her home on or around Jan. 8.       

Gavallas says a handyman may have made contact with Kibbe-Stanisz just days before she died. He says the handyman is not being considered a suspect, but police want to talk with him. 

The town's last reported homicide was in 2012. 

"We aren't a community that experiences this type of criminal activity. This is unusual," Gavallas says. 

Police would not comment if they had been called to the neighborhood before, but say they have never been called to Kibbe-Stanisz's house. 

The Connecticut State Police Crime Scene Unit helped process the scene. Watertown Police are investigating the case with the assistance of the Waterbury Police Department.

Anyone with information is asked to call Watertown police department at 860-945-5200 or their Crime Stoppers line at 860-945-9940.