Christina Lee Powell’s body was discovered Saturday night after a security guard noticed a “foul odor” coming from the vehicle parked outside the Huebner Oaks Center in San Antonio.
The security guard approached the 39-year-old’s black 2020 Nissan Rogue after noticing the car had been parked in the same spot outside the center for about a week, police said, according to reports on New York Post.
“She looked inside the vehicle and observed a body in the passenger side seat and called 911,” police said.
Police said there was no apparent trauma to Powell’s body, but a medical examiner was conducting an autopsy to determine his official cause of death.
It was not immediately clear when Powell died.
Stream more US news live and on demand with Flash. More than 25 news channels in one place. New to Flash? Try 1 month free. The offer ends on October 31, 2022 >
Her purse and identification were found inside the car and were used to positively identify her, police said.
Powell’s mother, Claudia Moble, broke the news of her daughter’s death on Facebook, writing Monday: “My beautiful daughter, Christina Powell, has been found, dead. I am heartbroken. Thank you all for your prayers.”
Powell had been missing since July 5 after leaving her home in San Antonio to go to her job as a paralegal, her family said at the time.
She was captured on security footage of her doorbell running out of the house around 10:30 a.m., leaving her phone and Apple Watch behind.
Moble, who also lives in the house, said her daughter had called her office to let them know she would be late.
A colleague came to Powell’s home hours later when he didn’t show up at the office, Moble said.
“I heard he was going, I believed he was going to work, and I think he felt he was going to work,” Moble told Fox News shortly after Powell’s disappearance was reported.
He added that nothing seemed out of the ordinary and that Powell had said nothing remarkable to his mother before he left.
“We didn’t really have any kind of in-depth conversation. It was basically, ‘Good morning.’ He told me he was late,” Mobley said.
“Then, he was going to work and I told him to be careful. And I probably told him: ‘I love you’”.
This article originally appeared in the New York Post and is reproduced with permission