Three juveniles were arrested after a 52-year-old woman was found slain in her Lafayette home early Wednesday.

The trio was being detained at the Boulder County Juvenile Detention Center while Lafayette police continued to investigate. Police released few details concerning the victim or the juveniles, or how they discovered the woman's body.

Lafayette police began investigating the case about 10:15 p.m. Tuesday after an anonymous caller phoned to tell them that a murder had taken place in the city. Officers were able to track the victim's whereabouts to a home in the 700 block of West Brome Place.

The Boulder County coroner is attempting to determine how the victim was killed and how long she had been dead. The office did not release the victim's name Wednesday.

Several detectives were back at the house Wednesday evening after spending most of the early morning hours at the home, a neighbor said. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation's crime scene unit is assisting detectives.

Crystal McMahon, a next-door neighbor, said a 52-year-old woman lived at the home with her teenage daughter.

The daughter's boyfriend sometimes visited, McMahon said, and his vehicle was still parked in the driveway Wednesday.

The daughter's car, however, was missing from the front of the house, the neighbor said.

Her neighbor's daughter and boyfriend often partied on the weekends, playing loud music, McMahon said.

McMahon said she began feeling uneasy about what was occurring at her neighbor's house after she stopped seeing the woman about two and a half weeks ago.

Her neighbor was a stickler for cleanliness, but during the past couple of weeks, trash and newspapers began piling up in her yard and driveway, she said.

"She keeps her yard clean," McMahon said.

In the past week no one from the home had put out the trash for collection, either, she said.

McMahon also said she was ready to call police after her neighbor's two black Labradors and golden retriever barked continuously late into the night. McMahon said her neighbor would not tolerate her dogs barking and would not hesitate to snap at them to be quiet and bring them inside her house.

"I just figured she was back in the hospital again," said McMahon, who recalled that paramedics previously had transported her neighbor from her home to the hospital.

On Saturday, McMahon said, she noticed another unusual sight at the home: The screen to a front window of the home had been pushed out and was bent.

Other neighbors said the apparent victim had been one of the first residents of the neighborhood.

gutierrezh@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5204