SACRAMENTO, Calif. —

Christina Cowens, 41, appeared in court Monday facing murder and fraud charges after police discovered the remains of Richard McClintic, a 59-year-old man with cerebral palsy, in his apartment last Thursday.

McClintic's family, who had been left in the dark for over a month, is mourning the loss of a man described as a loving and fiery sports fanatic.

"It's tough, it's frustrating," said his nephew, Ryan Klagenberg.

The family said they knew something was wrong after McClintic's sister died, and they couldn't get in contact with him.

"My aunt Shelly went over to his apartment, knocked on the door, and there was no answer. All of a sudden, then we started getting text messages from his Facebook account," a family member said.

They described the messages as unusual

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