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A senior citizen's was stabbed death overnight, now that woman's niece is in custody while police question her about the murder.

The woman's body was found inside her North County apartment this morning by a maintenance worker. Police say she had been stabbed several times. Fox 2 reports that the niece, who lives with the woman, was sitting in the apartment acting like nothing happened.

The woman has been identified as Bernice Winston of Ferguson.

A former St. Louis County police officer allegedly stole over a thousand dollars from the department by filing fraudulent overtime.

Michael Wood was charged Wednesday for felony stealing. Wood, a 10-year-veteran of the St. Louis County Police Department, was serving as an officer in the North County Precinct when he resigned in November.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - A disease that has decimated bat populations in the eastern United States has been detected in Illinois.

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources said Thursday that two laboratories confirmed the presence of the fungal disease known as white-nose syndrome.

The disease was found in bats from four counties: LaSalle in north-central Illinois, Monroe in southwestern Illinois and Hardin and Pope in the far southern part of the state.

Researchers are especially concerned about the disease because bats play a crucial role in the environment.

In particular, they devour agricultural pests, saving that industry billions of dollars a year.

There is no known way to prevent the disease, which has now been detected in 20 states, most of them in the eastern U.S.

It affects seven hibernating bat species.