Police believe they have found the body of a 36-year-old woman who has been missing for more than a week and are investigating her death as a homicide, Prince William County police say.
Lizeth Yadira Lopez, of Alexandria, Virginia, was last known to have contact with someone on April 17, and her family reported her missing two days later.
On Friday morning, a body was discovered near a drainage ditch in the area of Cotton Mill Drive and Griffith Avenue in Woodbridge, police said. The body is presumed to be that of Lopez because of tattoos found on the body, police said.
"As of right now, we've preliminarily said that it's her. We normally wait for the medical examiner to confirm that 100 percent, but just due to what we know about her, we do have a strong believe that it is [her]," said Sgt. Jonathan Perok, with the Prince William County Police Department.
Police said the body will be taken to the Medical Examiner's Office for an autopsy.
Lopez was last seen entering a CVS store on Touchtone Circle in Woodbridge. She left the CVS at 9 p.m., about an hour before she last had contact with anyone, police said.
The location where someone discovered the body is 1.4 miles away from the CVS.
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Lopez's car was found the day after she was reported missing at her job on Pond Run Drive in Woodbridge, police said.
Her family said she graduated three weeks ago from the University of Maryland with a degree in criminal justice.
Police are asking anyone with information to call Crime Solvers at 1 (866) 411-TIPS.
