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The Texas mom of two who was last seen rushing from her San Antonio home on her way to work was found dead in her vehicle, which was parked just miles from her home and is believed to have been there for days, police and a law enforcement source told Fox News Digital on Monday.
Christina Lee Powell, 39, was discovered in the front passenger seat of her 2020 Nissan Rogue around 6:45 p.m. Saturday, with no apparent signs of trauma, the San Antonio Police Department (SAPD) said in an email to Fox News Digital on Monday. Investigators are now working to determine the cause and manner of her death.
A security guard manning the parking lot for the Huebner Oka Center in San Antonio called police on Saturday evening after he spotted the woman’s body inside and “reported a foul odor coming from” inside, SAPD said. The guard told investigators the vehicle had been “parked in the same location for about a week,” police said.
“It had been days,” a law enforcement source told Fox News Digital. Powell was alone at the time. The source said the windows to her vehicle were closed.
The mall complex is located approximately four miles away – a 10-minutes drive – from her Red Hill Place home.
Police and medical personnel responded to the scene and pronounced the victim, identified as Powell, dead. The Bexar County Medical Examiner’s office is conducting an autopsy to determine the cause and manner of Powell’s death.
Police said Powell had suffered no apparent injuries and her purse, which contained information that confirmed her identity, was also inside. It was not immediately clear if any medication or writings were recovered at the scene.
MISSING TEXAS MOM CHRISTINA POWELL: WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE SAN ANTONIO PARALEGAL MISSING OVER A WEEK
Temperatures in San Antonio averaged at least in the high 80s and low 90s during the approximate time Powell’s vehicle was believed to have been parked in the lot.
Her mother, Claudia Mobley, confirmed the news on Facebook on Monday morning, writing: “My beautiful daughter, Christina Powell, has been found, deceased. I am heartbroken. Thank you all for your prayers.”
Powell, who went by “Chrissy,” disappeared without a trace on the morning of July 5, after she was last seen hurrying out the front door of the San Antonio home she shared with her mother and her oldest son. On the morning of her disappearance, she told her mom she was running late for work.
She was then captured on doorbell camera footage leaving the house around 10:35 a.m. but was never seen again. Powell left behind her cell phone — which had been placed on the bathroom counter — medication and possibly also her Apple Watch when she left.
She drove off in her 2020 Nissan Rogue SUV, but never made it the seven miles, or 15 minutes, to her office.
Claudia Mobley said she reported her daughter missing the next day.
If you or someone you know is experiencing suicidal thoughts or a mental health crisis, please contact the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988.