Woman, 71, Beaten to Death in Santa Ana Apartment : Crime: Residents of a high-security senior citizens’ complex are shaken. There were no signs of a break-in.

A 71-year-old woman living in a high-security apartment complex was found bludgeoned to death in her apartment Thursday morning, Santa Ana police said.

Investigators are looking for a man who was seen in her apartment earlier that day, they said.

The victim was identified as Patricia Hamilton Powell. She lived at the Wycliffe Plaza, a 12-story housing complex for senior citizens on North Flower Street.

Access to the building, which is surrounded by a high-security fence, is restricted.

According to Police Lt. Bob Helton, the woman’s body was found in a bedroom by a neighbor around 9 a.m.

The cause of death was blunt force trauma to the upper body and head, he said.

There were no signs of a break-in, but there were indications of a struggle from the living room to the bedroom, Helton said.

“There could have been a struggle, but it’s difficult for us to say at this point,” he said.

Investigators say they are looking for a white male in his 30s wearing light-colored trousers who was seen at the victim’s apartment around 1:30 a.m. Thursday.

According to Helton, a witness who is part of the building’s volunteer security team told investigators he had gone to the woman’s apartment when her smoke detector went off.

The witness said he found a young man in the woman’s apartment, who told him he had just burned something in the kitchen, Helton said.

The witness “then left and went about his business. Apparently he believed the young man,” Helton said. “We don’t know at this time if anything was burned.”

John Bailey, 84, who lives three doors down from Powell’s apartment, said, “I only met her a couple of times; nobody seems to know too much about anything. It makes you kind of nervous.”

Reacting to residents’ jitters, the building’s management kept its offices open all night Thursday and brought in extra security guards. Today at 2 p.m., residents said, a general meeting is planned on the premises to discuss the incident.

“They’re all upset, very upset,” Virginia Baker, 80, said of her neighbors. “I’ve never worried before, but this makes me feel strange.”

Elsie Fielding, 87, expressed similar sentiments.

“I have to admit it’s shocking,” she said. “I was completely surprised. I’m hesitant about opening my door now when the bell rings.”

Times staff writer David Haldane contributed to this report.