Woman believed to be 'D.C. madam' kills herself

TARPON SPRINGS, Fla. - Police say a woman believed to be the one convicted of running a high-end prostitution ring in Washington has been found dead of an apparent suicide in a Florida Gulf Coast town.

Tarpon Springs police say a body they believed to be 52-year-old Deborah Jeane Palfrey was found in a shed near her mother's mobile home Thursday morning. She left a suicide note, but police did not disclose its contents.

Palfrey was convicted April 15 by a federal jury of running a prostitution service that catered to members of Washington's political elite, including Sen. David Vitter, a Louisiana Republican.

She had denied her escort service engaged in prostitution, saying that if any of the women engaged in sex acts for money, they did so without her knowledge.