A missing Guadalupe woman has been found dead in a vehicle in a San Diego neighborhood and police are investigating her death as a homicide.
Just before 12:30 a.m. Tuesday, a caller alerted San Diego Police Department dispatchers about what appeared to be a body inside a vehicle parked in a lot on the 4400 block of Camino De La Plaza in the San Ysidro neighborhood of San Diego.
“Upon arriving, they located a female that was obviously deceased in a parked vehicle,” San Diego police said in a news release. “Due to unusual circumstances surrounding the death of the female and in an abundance of caution, San Diego Police homicide detectives were called to the scene to investigate.
“It is still early in the investigation, and little is known about the circumstances leading up to the female’s death,” the statement said.
However, detectives have determined the female suffered blunt force trauma to her upper body, indicating her death was a homicide, police said.
San Diego detectives have confirmed the deceased female had been reported as a missing person on Sunday, with the initial investigation conducted by the Guadalupe Police Department.
San Diego homicide detectives are working with investigators from Guadalupe and the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office to determine the circumstances surrounding her disappearance from Guadalupe, and how she ended up in San Diego.
The female has been identified, but her name is being withheld pending additional family notifications, San Diego police said.
She is described as a 32-year-old Hispanic female.
“This is an active and ongoing investigation. There is no suspect information at this time,” police added.
Police did not release any information about the vehicle.
While police had not released the woman’s name, family and friends on Monday had pleaded for information about missing Guadalupe resident Leyva Elizabeth Oregel, saying she was last seen when she left her home in the city at approximately 4 p.m. Saturday.
She left with her ex-husband, German Armando Luna, in a new model black Jeep Cherokee, and they were headed to clean offices in Paso Robles, family said.
She and her ex-husband “had been having problems and he has been known to make threats to her previously,” according to information released by the family.
Neither answered their cell phones, but hers was tracked to the Madera area on Sunday, the family said.
She has daughters, ages 14 and 7, and had never gone missing, family said.
“The family is highly concerned for her safety and well-being,” the flier said, adding the family believed Luna had abducted the woman.
Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call the San Diego Police Homicide Unit at 619.531.2293 or Crime Stoppers at 1.888.580.8477.