The body of a missing San Antonio woman who was last seen alive on July 5 was finally discovered 18 days later, rotting inside her car, parked outside in a mall parking lot.
Around 6:45 p.m. on July 23, 39-year-old Christina Lee Powell was found in the front passenger seat of her 2020 Nissan Rogue, according to the San Antonio Police Department (SAPD), per Fox News.
A security guard patrolling the parking lot dialed 911 after he discovered the woman’s body and “reported a foul odor coming from” inside the car, according to SAPD. He stated he had realized that the car had been in the same place at the mall for more than a week.
Powell’s body did not appear to show any signs of trauma, at least according to police. Still, an autopsy is being performed by the Bexar County Medical Examiner’s office to establish the exact cause of death.
As reported in The Dallas Express, Powell was last seen on the morning of July 5, dashing out the front door of the San Antonio home she shared with her mother and her oldest son. She informed her mother that she would be late for work the morning of her disappearance. She never made it to the office, which was only 7 miles from her home.
Around 10:35 a.m., she was spotted on a doorbell camera leaving the house. When Powell departed, she left behind her Apple Watch, her medication, and her cell phone, which she had left on the bathroom counter, according to Fox News.
Claudia Mobley, the woman’s mother, took to Facebook last Monday and verified that her daughter was found dead: “Christina Powell, my beautiful daughter, has been found. I am heartbroken. Thank you all for your prayers.”
