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BESSEMER -- Dozens of unanswered questions regarding the death of 79-year-old Ethel Grzena Peters continue.

But now there's been an arrest. Her husband, 50-year-old Kenneth Wayne Peters, was arraigned in Gogebic County District Court Thursday.  He's charged with first and second degree murder and vulnerable adult abuse.

Neighbors say the couple started a relationship two years ago when the elderly woman hired Peters to plow her driveway.

"I just never thought it would come this far. You know, I'm just sorry that this had to happen before they could do anything about him," said a neighbor of the couple, Patricia Smith.

Ethel's body was found August 13 in Watersmeet Township, and she was last seen alive in Bessemer on August 3.

As for the neighbors, they say this sort of thing doesn't happen in Bessemer, and they feel that they've lost one of their own.

"She didn't deserve this. He didn't deserve her. She was a good woman, she was a sweet woman. She was a good friend. We all loved her. My grandkids even thought of her as grandma, you know. It's just a sad thing that it had to go this far before you were able to do anything," Smith added.

The cause of death has not been released, and police continued their investigation Thursday at the couple's home.

Peters is being held in the Gogebic County Jail without bond. His preliminary hearing is set for August 31.