BALTIMORE (CNS) – Sister Angela Miller, a member of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, is believed to have been murdered by her nephew on or before he set fire April 28 to the nun’s home in West Scranton, Pa., authorities said.

Rosemary Smith, Sister Angela’s sister and the mother of Alan Smith, was shot in the head and murdered by her son before he set the fire, according to a May 1 report in The Times-Tribune in Scranton. Alan Smith died in the blaze and officials ruled the death a suicide.

The Smiths lived on one side of a duplex home, while Sister Angela lived on the other, the newspaper reported.

Investigators searched the home for Sister Angela’s body, but failed to find it. They suspect that Sister Angela was murdered by Alan Smith sometime before he set the fire.

A search for her body was continuing May 2 after police identified what they believe could be blood in the trunk of Rosemary Smith’s car, The Times-Tribune reported.

Events unfolded as police arrived at the home to serve an emergency protection-from-abuse order and were met with a shotgun blast fired by Alan Smith after he set the fire, the newspaper reported.

Sister Angela served six years in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and associates recalled her as a fun-loving person.