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Cheltenham murder suspect on the run

Police on Friday were still searching for a man charged in the shooting death of a woman in their Elkins Park home Wednesday.

Police on Friday were still searching for a man charged in the shooting death of a woman in their Elkins Park home Wednesday.

Stanley W. "Peter" Laing, 52, has not been seen since the slaying and is believed to be armed and dangerous, the District Attorney's Office said in a statement.

He was charged Friday with first-degree murder and other crimes in the death of 49-year-old Indra Sheets.

In a statement Friday, Cheltenham Township School District Superintendent William N. Kiefer said Sheets' two children, a ninth-grader and a seventh-grader, "are safe and being cared for."

Kiefer also said the mother "was the victim of domestic violence."

According to state records, Sheets was a licensed nurse. It's unclear whether Laing was the father of her children.

Police arrived at their home on the 200 block of Sunnybrook Avenue around 5:20 p.m. Wednesday to find Sheets dead, with two gunshot wounds, the D.A. said.

Police in Cheltenham and beyond were still searching for Laing, described as a black man, 6-feet tall, muscular with short gray hair and a full beard. In a 2013 photo released to the news media, he is seen with a shaved head and a closely trimmed beard.

Laing was last seen wearing a red plaid jacket, pants and black boots. According to the D.A., he fled the home in what was believed to be a white Ford Escape with the license plate EPG-4243.

Anyone with information about Laing is urged to call 911, Cheltenham police at 215-885-1600, or county Detectives at 610-278-3368.

- Jessica Parks