Woman found buried in Frankford yard ID'd

FRANKFORD (WPVI) -- Authorities have identified the remains of a woman who was found buried in a yard in Frankford earlier this week.

The victim, identified as 39-year-old Kelly Hepft, was found in a shallow grave in the rear of an apartment building on the 4700 block of Frankford Avenue on Tuesday.

Police ruled her death a homicide saying she died from multiple stab wounds to the head, neck and chest.

At the scene, an Action News viewer recorded video of police struggling with a man as they were trying to take him into custody.

A witness says police had to use a Taser to subdue the man.

"He started fighting with the cops, so the cops took him down, Tased him. He tried to wrestle the gun off the female police officer," witness Jarrett Francis said.

Neighbors fear the victim is the man's live-in girlfriend. They say the couple argued constantly.

"They're always fighting," neighbor Mary Beckett said.

Police say neighbors reported hearing a woman screaming Sunday night, but nobody called authorities.

"No, cause it's like a normal thing," Beckett said.

Neighbors say over the next couple of days things got unusually quiet and the suspect was going around asking to borrow a shovel.

"From what I understand, for a couple days, he's been trying to find a shovel. He's been asking people to borrow their shovels," Francis said.

"And I'm like, why? There's no snow out here anymore," Beckett said.

After not hearing anymore arguments for two days, the building superintendent got suspicious, stumbled upon the shallow grave in the back of the building, and called police.

Police arrived to find a woman's toes sticking out of the ground.

When police tried to question the man about the grave, he tried to run.

The woman's bloodied clothing was recovered in a nearby dumpster.

Police have not filed any charges but say the investigation is still ongoing.