What killed a woman whose body was found in Long Beach near a vehicle may be determined Wednesday after a scheduled autopsy is completed, according to the coroner's office.
The body was found at about 1:30 a.m. Tuesday in the 1000 block of West Carson Street, said Long Beach police Sgt. Brad Johnson.
The victim was identified by her mother as 29-year-old Samantha Lang.
An autopsy will be conducted Wednesday, the county coroner's office said.
Johnson said officers went to the area at about 10:30 a.m. Monday "regarding a suspicious vehicle in the flood control basin."
"The investigation led to the incident being handled as a critical missing when the registered owner of the vehicle could not be located," Johnson said.
"During the investigation officers returned to the 1000 block of West Carson Street and conducted a thorough search of the area," Johnson said.
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Officers then found the body, Johnson said.
Homicide detectives believe the woman may have been the registered owner of the car, Long Beach police said in a statement.
"She was a good girl. She didn’t deserve anything to happen to her," her former boss Danny Harris said.
Harris said he had to fire Lang from her waitress job at Cirivello's Sport Stop in Long Beach about 6 weeks ago because she often wouldn’t show up to work and he hadn’t seen her since.
"There was times she’d go through hard times. At times she’d be missing for a week or two at a time," Harris said.
Neighbors said the Wisconsin-native lived in a small apartment in Signal Hill where she would often be heard fighting with a man they think was her boyfriend.
Neighbors said that man was found sleeping in her back yard Tuesday with her small dog. He was crying inconsolably and was seen leaving with police.
Long Beach police said no one has been arrested and they have not named a suspect.
Anyone with information on the case was urged to call the Long Beach Police Department at 562-570-7260.
City News Service contributed to this report.
