A 91-year-old woman was a victim of homicide in Georgetown this weekend, MPD said in press release Sunday.
Viola Drath was found dead Friday inside a building in the 3200 block of Q Street, NW. Officers were responding to a call for an unconscious person.
On Saturday the death was declared a homicide. There was no word on how she was killed or any suspects.
According to the Associated Press, Drath was a German-born journalist who wrote columns for the Washington Times. She was also a correspondent for German newspaper Handelsblatt and was a member of the National Committee on American Foreign Policy.
Reports the Washington Post
Viola Herms Drath, a German journalist, philanthropist and advocate for American-German relations, was found unconscious Friday morning on a bathroom floor in her two-story Georgetown rowhouse. She was pronounced dead hours later.
Authorities initially believed the 91-year-old woman might have died of natural causes. But after an autopsy Saturday, D.C. police are investigating her death as a homicide.
Detectives searched Drath’s rowhouse in the 3200 block of Q Street NW, on Sunday afternoon, and police said they have interviewed some of Drath’s family members.
An obituary was submitted to the Post on Saturday.
In her Facebook profile Drath wrote in her “about me” section:
M.A. Philosophy UN Nebraska.Author, Academic, Playwright. 9 books: among them “Willy Brandt: Prisoner of his Past” and “Germany in World Affairs”. 2 plays.Executive Board National Committee on American Foreign Policy.
MPD’s press release is after the jump.
August 14, 2011
Homicide: 3200 Block of Q Street, NW
(Washington, DC)-Detective’s from the Metropolitan Police Departments Homicide Branch are investigating the homicide which occurred in the 3200 block of Q Street, NW.
On Friday, August 12, 2011, units from the Second District responded to the 3200 block of Q Street, NW for the report of an unconscious person. Upon their arrival, they discovered an unconscious and unresponsive adult female inside of the location. Personnel from DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services determined that the decedent had no signs of life and was pronounced dead by a member of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for the District of Columbia.
On Saturday, August 13, 2011, it was determined, by a member of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for the District of Columbia, that the manner of death was homicide.
The decedent has been identified as 91 year-old Viola Drath of Northwest, Washington, DC.
Anyone with information about this case is asked to call the police at (202) 727-9099 or 1-888-919-CRIME (1-888-919-2746).
The Metropolitan Police Department currently offers a reward of up to $25,000 to anyone that provides information which leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons wanted fro any homicide committed in the District of Columbia.
Additionally, anonymous information may be submitted to DC CRIME SOLVERS at 1-800-673-2777 and to the department’s TEXT TIP LINE by text messaging 50411. If the information provided by the caller to the Crime Solvers Unit leads to an arrest and indictment, that caller will be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.
