The search for a missing Washington D.C. yoga instructor ended when her body was reportedly found inside her car after police took the man driving the vehicle into custody.
Metropolitan interim chief Peter Newsham said that there was trauma to the body of Tricia McCauley, 46, but police have not determined how she died, WRC-TV reported. McCauley disappeared on Christmas Day, missing a dinner date with friends and a flight the next day to see family, according to WRC-TV.
A man, who police have not identified, was arrested Monday in northwest D.C. after someone spotted McCauley's vehicle near a CVS store, the television station reported, adding that the man gave police the keys to the vehicle and was taken into custody.
McCauley's family confirmed in a Facebook post that police found the woman's body, WTTG-TV reported. Her brother, Brian McCauley, called her death "devastating."
"Please join us in taking time now to remember Tricia as you loved her best," her brother wrote on a Facebook page dedicated to her memory. "Tricia's regular weekly yoga class at 5:15 p.m. (Tuesday) is being transformed into a community-led vigil celebrating her life and love that lives on in all of us forever."
Newsham said authorities are trying to determine the suspect's whereabouts and the last hours of McCauley's life, WRC-TV reported.
"We have a timeline that we would like the public to pay particular attention to," Newsham said at a news conference Tuesday.
Police said, according to the television station, that they believe the suspect traveled to the following locations on Monday: 2:30 a.m. to 3:30 a.m., at the 3400 block of Georgia Avenue NW; 8 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. at the 400 block of Massachusetts Avenue NW; 9:15 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. at the with the victim's vehicle at the 700 block of 4th Street SW. Police stated that that the suspect allegedly robbed a CVS and assaulted the employees there.
He was also allegedly seen 11 a.m. - 11:50 a.m. at the 2300 block of Washington Place NE; 1:15 p.m. to 1:35 p.m. at the 400 block of Rhode Island Avenue NE; and 2 p.m. to 2:20 p.m. at the 2800 block of 7th Street NE.
Police said McCauley was last seen around 4:30 p.m. Sunday in the 2000 block of North Capitol Street, WTTG noted.
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