Body found in home located near to homeless ‘pod’ center
By Mike Donoghue, Vermont News First
Burlington Police say they have identified the woman found beaten to death at a residence on Elmwood Avenue on Tuesday night.
The next of kin of Tina Mullen, 60, of Burlington has been notified, a police spokesperson said.
The case is being treated as a homicide by police, Vermont’s Chief Medical Examiner’s Office and the Chittenden County State’s Attorney’s Office, officials said.
BPD spokeswoman Sarah Hernandez Timm said in a news release that there is no evidence to suggest the community is at risk, but she gave no indication for the basis for that claim. Timm has said the city does not provide her a cell phone to field media calls.
Burlington Police responded about 7:51 p.m. Tuesday to a residence near the Pods that the City of Burlington established for homeless persons in a parking lot north of the U.S. Post Office and Courthouse on Elmwood Avenue.
An unresponsive woman was reportedly found on the floor next to a mattress in a residence. Police and fire personnel determined she was dead, the news release said.
The case was initially classified an “untimely death” – a generic term used by police.
The Burlington Police Identification Unit also was summoned to help collect evidence at the death scene.
The Pods, which opened in February 2023, house up to 35 homeless persons and were funded in part by a $1.6 million federal grant.
Anybody with information about the suspicious death is asked to call Burlington Police at (802) 658-2704.