A Michigan teacher who was working at a Dominican Republic school was found dead inside her apartment with her hands and feet bound, WXYZ reports.
Patricia Ann Anton, 63, has been living in the Dominican Republic for five years working as a consultant at a Montessori School. The Policia Nacional of the Republica Dominicana said Anton was strangled to death in her home. Her cell phone, laptop, 40-inch TV and a pair of shoes were also apparently stolen.
Anton's cousin, Adrianne Machina, gave a statement to WXYZ saying the 63-year-old was passionate about the philosophy at the Montessori school. Anton had been working at a school in Traverse City before she decided to teach in South America. Anton's husband travels for work and her children are now grown and out of the house.
"(Patty)...believed Montessori education is the path out of poverty and the way to teach children to explore their world and build self-reliance," wrote Machina in the statement.
Anton first taught in Guatemala before settling at 3 Mariposas Montessori in the Dominican Republic. She taught there for six years, according to ABC News.
"The children, parents, teachers and the community in general, are completely heart-broken over this loss. Patty was not only a colleague of mine, but she was also my mentor and one of my best friends," Sarah Ludwig-Ross, the founder and head of the school, told ABC News in a statement. "She was one of the most caring people I have ever met, always putting everyone else first."
The U.S. State Department confirmed to ABC News that an American citizen died in the Dominican Republic in November.
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