A missing mum who was last seen leaving her house three weeks ago has been found dead inside her car in a shopping centre car park.
A security guard noticed a "foul odour" coming from the vehicle parked outside the Huebner Oaks Center in San Antonio, Texas, which is then when Christina Lee Powell’s body was discovered.
The guard approached the black 2020 Nissan Rogue and then realised the car had been parked in the same spot outside the mall for about a week.
He was shocked to look inside the vehicle and see a woman's body in the front passenger side seat, police said.
Police said there was no apparent trauma to Powell’s body, but an autopsy was being carried out to determine her official cause of death.
They identified her body after they found her purse in the car.
Powell’s mother, Claudia Moble, wrote on Facebook : “My beautiful daughter, Christina Powell, has been found, deceased. I am heartbroken. Thank you all for your prayers.”
Ms Powell, 39, was last seen leaving her house just after 10.30am on July 5 after calling work to let them know she was running late.
She accidentally left her iPhone, Apple Watch and medication at home and footage from her doorbell camera shows the paralegal hurrying out of her home in a rush to get to work.
Her mother, who she lives with, told Fox News that nothing seemed out of the ordinary that morning and that Powell hadn’t said anything remarkable to her mom before she left.
“We didn’t really have any kind of in-depth conversation. It was basically, ‘Good morning.’ She told me she was late,” Mobley continued.
She thinks she told her "I love you."
A colleague went to Powell’s home hours later when she failed to show up at the office.
