Missing Woman's Car Found with Body Inside

WASHINGTON - A car belonging to a missing northern Virginia woman turned up on a Washington, D.C., street Tuesday with a body in the back. But authorities could not immediately say if it was Marissa Lara of Manassas, who vanished last week.

Lara's black Mitsubishi Eclipse was found parked on a street in the upscale Dupont Circle area, some 50 miles northeast of Manassas. Several parking tickets were on the windshield, and authorities said a meter maid who took a closer look saw the body inside.

"My husband takes the baby and the dog for walks in the morning and he had noticed (the car) for a few days," said Sonia Suter, who lives near where the car was parked. "It's, of course, unnerving."

The car was towed to a District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Dept. facility where detectives were examining it. The medical examiner will perform an autopsy and try to identify the body.

Lara, 41, a waitress at a Manassas restaurant, was last seen May 13 by her estranged husband at his Manassas home. Manassas Police said the couple had been separated for six months, but that Lara regularly went to the husband's home to help get their two teenage sons off to school.

The husband told police that before the children awoke, he saw his wife leave with four other people in a Honda Accord with D.C. plates and four other people inside. The next day, Lara's car - which had been parked near the husband's home - vanished.

"Most missing person cases you just don't know until something pops up like the person's car, clothing, identification," said Sgt. Bill Goodman of the Manassas Police. "This is first lead we've had."

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)