Brit woman found beaten to death in rural French village with 'deep wounds' is pictured

A British woman whose body was found after she was in a rural village has been named and pictured. A investigation has been launched after the body of Karen Carter, a 65-year-old married mother of four, was found outside a property she ran in the village of Trémolat, east of Bordeaux, on Tuesday evening.

Karen, who was of a British- background, was stabbed to death and was found with "deep" wounds across her body. Medics rushed to the property, after they received a call from an man, to find the 65-year-old "in cardio-respiratory arrest" but she tragically died at the scene.

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An investigating source said: "A man called the emergency services after finding her covered in stab wounds." They added: "Five deep injuries pointed to ferocious violence and a desire to kill." Authorities also revealed mum of four was hit in her chest, arm, groin and leg.

Investigators said Karen was spending time with a friend with whom she had been in a relationship for several weeks. They had spent the evening together in Tremolat with friends before returning to the Brit's home.

The friend arrived at the home 10 minutes after, finding her "collapsed and unconscious" near the vehicle. Prosecutors said he called for help before starting to administer first aid, and was temporarily held in custody when arrived at the scene, but was released on Wednesday evening.

The shocking death is being investigated by cops and a criminal enquiry had been opened, Sylvie Martins-Guedes, the Bergerac prosecutor, confirmed. She said that "a search has been launched to identify and arrest the perpetrator," and that possible motives included robbery.

Karen was married to Alan Carter, also 65, who at one point worked for the London Stock Exchange and the couple were both educated at Rhodes University, South Africa, and, according to the France 3 news outlet, Ms Carter was British.

She was the owner and manager of two guest houses in Trémolat, and both were frequently used by guests from the UK.

A publicity message written by Karen read: "We would love to welcome you to visit our beautiful cottage in the Dordogne Valley, France. Take time out of your crazy schedule and relax into the wonderful slow lifestyle of the French community."

The property, called Les Chouettes [The Owls], is described as "a lovely old renovated farmhouse and barn", sleeping 14 in total. Karen at one stage ran a lifestyle blog for women over 50 called La Vie est Belle (Life is Beautiful).

She was also a leading player in the Queens of (Reines du Foot) team, which in early April completed a tour of South Africa.

A Trémolat resident said on Wednesday: "Everyone is in total shock – Ms Carter was a delightful, energetic person who got on with everybody. We saw emergency vehicles in the village, and then lots of police cars, and then the area around her house was cordoned off."

She added: "Nobody can understand how this could have happened in a peaceful place like this. We are all keeping our doors locked – it is deeply worrying."