The Associated Press

PHOENIX - A woman discovered a body thawing in her former roommate's freezer after prying it open in search of some missing clothes, police said yesterday.

The owner of the freezer, 44-year-old Gale Susan Zylstra of Phoenix, was arrested yesterday morning and booked on suspicion of one count of first-degree murder, said police Sgt. Mike Torres.

Investigators think the body, a woman believed to be in her 40s, may be a former roommate whom Zylstra lived with in 1991, Torres said.

''We're leaning in that direction,'' he said. ''We don't know that for a fact.''

A records search showed no missing report had been filed on the woman, Torres said. Investigators estimated the body has been in the freezer for about five years, he said.

Zylstra's arrest came after police received a call Monday night from a woman who had rented a room to her until four months ago. Torres said he did not know the name of the woman or how long they had lived together.

Zylstra had left the locked freezer and other belongings at the woman's house on the understanding she would pick them up later, Torres said. The woman was missing some clothes and thought they might be in Zylstra's freezer because it was locked.

That is when she came across the frozen body.

''I've got tons of neighbors wanting to know if she's the next murderer axe killer,'' Torres said. ''This lady has nothing to do with what occurred. She had no knowledge that there was a body in that freezer.''

Torres said the body was not dismembered and was starting to thaw because the freezer was unplugged. The stand-alone freezer had a capacity of 5.4 cubic feet, he said.

The freezer with the body still inside was taken to the Maricopa County Medical Examiner's Office, where the cause of death and identity would be established.