Dr. Doris Greene Beardsley, 59, was found dead from a gunshot wound in her Brookhaven home on Hunters Brook Court in Atlanta, Georgia, on the evening of April 8, 2015. A respected educator with a Ph.D. in Administration and Supervision, she was remembered as a wife, mother, grandmother and dog lover.

Police and the DeKalb County Medical Examiner responded that night after a medical call. Investigators characterized the death as a personal family matter with no criminal implications and reported no signs of foul play. No arrests were made and no suspects were publicly named; officials did not announce any criminal charges.

What details about Dr. Beardsley’s death or the surrounding circumstances might help explain why investigators described it as a personal family matter rather than a homicide?