A woman whose decomposed body was found yesterday afternoon in a Northeast Baltimore rowhouse had been bludgeoned, and detectives were searching for her missing car, city police said.
The identity of the woman, believed to be in her early 20s, was not immediately released. Investigators remained at the house in the 1600 block of Northgate Road into the early evening.
Police said they were searching for a missing green 1999 Mazda 626 with Maryland license plate XRV-611.
They said it might belong to a relative of the victim and was last seen parked outside the victim's residence on Sunday.
Few details of the slaying were released, but police on the scene said the woman's body was found inside a folded sofa-bed in a second-floor apartment of the rowhouse near Morgan State University.
Sgt. Scott Rowe, a police spokesman, said an officer found the body at about 3 p.m. after being flagged down by relatives who were searching in the area after they had reported the woman missing two weeks ago.
Rowe said detectives were trying to confirm that a missing-person report had been filed.