AUSTINTOWN Cops say a party preceded slaying

A detective is attempting to talk to the partygoers today.
By IAN HILL
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
AUSTINTOWN -- Police are looking for seven people who were at a party early Monday in the apartment of a Compass West woman who was later found slain.
The body of Amber Zurcher, 22, of 1031 Compass West, was found lying face up on the floor of her living room by her mother around 3:30 p.m. Monday. The television was on.
Police believe Zurcher was strangled by a cord, and an unplugged iron found near the body has been sent to the Mahoning County coroner for testing. Officials are trying to determine when Zurcher died.
Spent time at a bar
Detective Sgt. Frank Tomasino said Zurcher and seven other people came to the apartment between 1 and 2 a.m. Monday after spending time Sunday night at Chipper's Sports Bar and Grill on North Edgehill Avenue. Tomasino was calling those people this morning and asking about the party. He said alcohol was served at the party, and police are checking to determine if drugs were involved.
Blood from Zurcher and the results of a rape examination have been sent to a state lab.
The party ended around 3:30 a.m., Tomasino said. Around 4 a.m., one of Zurcher's neighbors heard a scream for help in the apartment building. The neighbor didn't have a phone and didn't call police, Tomasino said. Compass West resident Nicole Mediate noted that she heard a loud argument in the building Sunday night, though she said she couldn't be sure if it was coming from Zurcher's apartment.
Screams are common
Compass West is an apartment complex off Burkey Road. Several Compass West residents have said that screams and loud yells often are heard in the complex. Tomasino said there weren't signs of a struggle in Zurcher's apartment.
Zurcher's neighbors described her as nice and a good mother. Her 3-year-old son was staying with grandparents when the killing occurred.
The strangling of Zurcher was the first homicide in Austintown since November 2000, when trucker Roy Patterson, 45, of Hackensack, N.J., was stabbed during a fight with another trucker behind the Rebel Lounge on Seventy-six Drive. Police are still investigating that death.
hill@vindy.com