THE BRONX — The body of a pregnant day care worker reported missing over the weekend was found buried in the basement closet of her Baychester family home Wednesday morning after being bludgeoned to death by her father, police said.
Investigators believe that Anndrea Caruth, 39, who was five months pregnant with her first child, was killed by a blow to the back of the head from a hammer during a financial dispute with her father, William Caruth, 61, over the purchase of a second house in The Bronx, sources said.
A police dog found the daughter face down about 2 a.m. buried under gravel, plywood and a tarp in the ground floor of 3242 Corsa Ave., her father's room, after a family member had reported her missing over the weekend, police and sources said.
Her boyfriend, Lincoln Grant, told detectives there was a long-simmering dispute with the father, who controlled the family finances over the purchase of the second home on Corsa Avenue, sources said.
Caruth, who was reported missing Jan. 3, confronted the father Sunday about the overleveraged property and his handling of the family finances, sources and an NYPD spokesman said.
"He's a freeloader, who doesn't contribute anything," Grant allegedly told investigators, according to a law enforcement source.
Neighbors described William Caruth as "anti-social."
"He's always a little strange," neighbor Fitzroy Clayton said.
Anndrea Caruth, who worked in the family day care center run out of the family home, was described as outgoing and kind.
He was charged with murder in the second degree and manslaughter.
"She was a very good person," said Hermilin Evans, who has lived on the block since 2000. "She's very soft. She's very tender."
