A 63-year-old woman was found dead in her Liberty County home with dog bite wounds covering nearly every inch of her body - and a hunt mounted for the large black-and-white stray whom she'd adopted and is believed responsible for the attack.

The aggressive dog, described as a "Labrador retriever" mix, twice charged at investigators who were trying to rescue the woman, Linda Oliver, officials said. A deputy was only able to stop the animal by repeatedly firing his weapon and eventually wounding it before it escaped under a fence into the surrounding Woodland Hills subdivision near Dayton.

The stray had appeared hungry when it wandered onto their property about two weeks ago, Oliver's husband, Leland Oliver, told police. The couple started feeding it.

But then Monday morning, authorities say the stray attacked the couple's other small brown "wiener" dog. When Linda Oliver tried to rescue it, the stray turned on her.

"She was pretty ripped up, but managed to somehow crawl from the yard into the house to telephone her husband that she'd been bitten," said Liberty County Sheriff's Office Capt. Ken DeFoor. "He said she sounded real weak and then the phone went dead."

When investigators arrived, they found the stray in the front yard with blood on its body. The dog charged at them, refusing to let anyone enter, until a deputy fired his weapon at the dog.

Charged a second time

The dog then backed off and ran to the far side of the yard as the deputy and a medical worker approached the front door. The dog then came charging back a second time. The officer fired again, believing the dog was hit at least twice, before it escaped under the fence.

Linda Oliver was found on the living room floor.

Nervous residents in the subdivision have reported several sightings of the bloody dog roaming in the area. However, the animal had not been found as of Monday night.

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Liberty County woman killed by dog she had adopted