PELLA, Iowa — A woman was found dead on Monday night, and now the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation is helping assist local police in the homicide.
According to state investigators, Pella police officers got a call around 8:20 p.m. on Monday to reports of a domestic disturbance in the 100 block of Glenwood Street. When officers got there, they found an unresponsive adult female inside a vehicle. Officers performed life-saving measures, but the female was pronounced dead at the scene.
The victim has been identified as 46-year-old Tracy Mondabough of Ottumwa.
55-year-old Michelle Boat of Pella was arrested and charged Monday night on a Violation of No-Contact order before being transported to the Marion County Jail.
Charges were amended Tuesday to include one count of Murder in the First Degree. She remains in the Marion County Jail on a $2 million bond.
According to a criminal complaint, an eyewitness identified a struggle between Mondabough and Boat in an alley behind a Pella residence. Mondabough was later found in the vehicle "slumped back against the vehicle's seat with the seat belt still on," according to police.
Police say Boat is "separated but still legally married" to Mondabough's boyfriend.
The Pella Police Department, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, the Marion County Attorney's Office and the DCI are continuing the investigation.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Pella Police Department at 641-628-4921.
An autopsy to determine the cause and manner of death will be conducted by the Office of the State Medical Examiner.
