RALEIGH — The body of a woman missing more than a week was found Tuesday in her North Raleigh home, and police have ruled her death a homicide. Her 18-year-old son is now holed up in another house avoiding police.

Police told WRAL-TV'sMark Robertsthat they don't know if the son is alone, but they do believe he is armed. The man, Jonathan Thompson, has been charged with first degree murder in connection with his mother's death.

At 6 p.m., police said they had been in touch with Thompson and that he seemed to be very agitated. Police are positioned outside the house in which he is hiding, on Brentwood Road.

The body of Cassandra Lee Mitchell, 44, was found after officials obtained a search warrant for her home in the Lake Park subdivision in North Raleigh, near Shelley Lake.

Mitchell was a graduate student in education at N.C. State University. She was last seen alive March 4. She was reported missing Saturday, March 8, by her brother-in-law. Her husband, James Mitchell, lives and works in California, according to police.

While one neighbor told Roberts that Thompson had broken into her house, other neighbors, including Jim Meyer, said there was no outward evidence of trouble in the family.

According to the search warrant, Mrs. Mitchell had asked that her son be charged with credit card fraud.

Her car had been found undamaged Saturday at North Hills Mall.

It's unclear why her body was not discovered in her home until Tuesday even though she was reported missing Saturday.

Police declined to say where the body was found or how Mitchell died.

Anyone with information on the case is asked to call police at 890-3555 or CrimeStoppers at 834-4357.