Dekalb death investigation leads to arrest

Doug Minor

DeKalb County sheriff's deputies are investigating after a woman was found dead inside a home on Lookout Mountain early Saturday morning.

Authorities were called to a home on County Road 127 around 4 a.m. on a report of an unresponsive woman. Upon arriving, they found a female deceased inside the residence. The woman appeared to have died from blunt force trauma to the head.

The woman's body was transported to the Alabama Department of Forensic Science in Huntsville, where an autopsy will be performed to determine the exact cause of death.  According to the Dekalb County Sheriff's Office, deputies have found two people of interest in connection with the death investigation. However, deputies believe the woman may have been the victim of a kidnapping.

Dekalb County Sheriff Jimmy Harris says they located Doug Minor and Norma Grinnell Sunday morning near a chicken house in Cherokee County. Deputies say Grinnell asked them for help and water. She appeared battered and bruised.

Minor has been charged with 1st Degree Assault and Kidnapping until investigators can figure out exactly how the woman died. Police believe Grinell was a victim in the situation.