ACTIVIST and African-American museum founder Sadie Roberts-Joseph was found dead in the boot of a car on Friday.

It is not clear what caused the 75-year-old’s death or what led the police to find her body three-and-half miles from her home in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Ms Roberts-Joseph was a tireless advocate of peace in the community. Alongside the museum that she opened in 2001, she started Community Against Drugs and Violence, a not-for-profit organisation focused on creating a safer environment for children in North Baton Rouge.

Local politicians and community members mourned her death on Saturday.

Beatrice Johnson, one of Ms Roberts-Joseph’s 11 siblings, said her sister had come to visit her Friday because “she had mixed some cornbread, but her oven went out and she brought it here to put in the oven.”

Ms Johnson said: “The bread is still there. She never came back to get it.”