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Roberts-Joseph was last seen alive visiting her sister about 11 a.m. on Friday. Her body was discovered in her car a little over three miles from her home about 3:45 p.m. on Friday, police and relatives said.

There was a 90 minute time frame that investigators focused on, from the time she was last seen alive to the time her body was found, police said.

A warrant was already issued for Bell on unrelated charges, including failing to comply with probation regulations and failing to register as a sex offender.

Bell was previously convicted for sexual assault against an 8-year-old girl, said East Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar C. Moore III, adding that Bell pleaded guilty in 2007 to sexual battery and received a seven year sentence, which was completely served.

The slaying of Roberts-Joseph, who was well known in Baton Rouge, came as a complete shock for her family and the community.

\"We're devastated that someone has actually killed her and put her in the trunk of her own car,\" Roberts-Joseph's niece, Pat McCallister-Leduff, told ABC News.

The victim's sister, Beatrice Johnson, told The Advocate newspaper of Baton Rouge that Roberts-Johnson stopped by her house around 11 a.m. on Friday. She said her sister lived near her in the Scotlandville neighborhood of Baton Rouge and would check in with her daily.

\"Friday, she came by [because] she had mixed some cornbread, but her oven went out, and she brought it here to put in the oven,\" Johnson told the newspaper. \"The bread is still there. She never came back to get it.\"

Roberts-Joseph founded the Odell S. Williams Now and Then African-American History Museum in 2001. The museum, now known as the Baton Rouge African-American History Museum, is housed on the campus of New St. Luke Baptist Church in Baton Rouge.

She also organized the city's annual Juneteenth festival at the museum, commemorating the day slaves were belatedly freed in Texas more than two years after Emancipation Proclamation was signed. She also partnered with Baton Rouge police to launch a Community Against Drugs and Violence program.

In a recent interview with ABC affiliate station WBRZ in Baton Rouge, Roberts-Joseph said her work at the museum and the annual Juneteenth event was meant \"to celebrate, to embrace\" African American history and to \"learn of our past and to be able to move forward in unity.\"

Baton Rouge Mayor Sharon Weston Broome described Roberts-Joseph on Tuesday as \"one of the standout matriarchs of Baton Rouge.\"

\"She was a part of the fabric of Baton Roudge and that is why you see so many people concerned about her death,\" the mayor said. \"We will make her legacy a priority here in Baton Rouge ... because of what she gave to so many here.\"

East Baton Rouge Sheriff Sid Gautreaux said he personally knew Roberts-Joseph.

\"I'm heartbroken that our community has lost such a kind and selfless soul in such a violent, tragic manner,\" Gautreaux said. \"I've known and loved Ms. Sadie for years and admired and respected her dedication to education and our community. I'm grateful for the swift action of the Baton Rouge Police Department and the Louisiana State Police in finding her alleged killer and putting him behind bars.\"

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