Schaefer was found dead at her home in Turnerville, Georgia in Habersham County on 26 March 2010 with a single gunshot wound to her back along with her husband of 52 years, Bruce Schaefer who was found with a single gunshot wound to his chest. Police concluded the deaths to have been a murder–suicide perpetrated by her husband, but the motive for the murder was unclear and never established.[2][8][9]