Woman found dead in her yard

The body of a 51-year-old Colusa woman was found Tuesday morning in her yard — possibly mauled to death by her own dog.

Linda Leal was found by her husband, Enrique Leal, sometime after 7 a.m. in the muddy yard at 128 Bridge St., Colusa firefighters responded to the medical call about 7:20 and found Mrs. Leal dead. Colusa police were called at 7:25, interim Chief Ross Stark said.

"She has some trauma to her neck. It kind of looks like she was mauled by a dog," said Stark, adding that the Leals do have two dogs, but the one with a history of violent behavior was penned up.

The other, a pit bull mix, was taken from the property by authorities and put down with permission of Enrique Leal. There was blood on the dog, Stark said.

"But we are trying to determine if she had a medical trauma and then was mauled by the dog, or was she mauled by the dog and died," Stark said.

An autopsy is scheduled for today.

The woman, who apparently has a number of health issues, was last seen alive about 7 p.m. Monday when her husband went upstairs to bed. She sleeps downstairs, Stark said.

Enrique Leal told investigators, including a team from the state Department of Justice, that his wife seemed fine at that time.

When he came downstairs in the morning, shortly after 7, Leal reported his wife was not in the house.

"He went outside and found her in the yard," Stark said.

The couple had been married for nine years, officials said.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Colusa Police Department at 458-7777.