Body Found May Be Missing Woman’s

By Lookout Staff

April 26 -- A body found inside a car in Culver City Tuesday afternoon may be that of a woman who has been missing since leaving her job in Santa Monica last week.

It will not be known whether the body is that of 35-year-old Taja Jones until the coroner's office makes a final determination, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

But officers say the body matches Jones’ description, and the car is the one Jones was last seen driving when she left work last Thursday.

"We cannot speculate," said Officer Jason Lee of the Los Angeles Police Department's Media Relations Section. "It's a sad situation."

The car was found in the 5800 block of Jefferson Boulevard around 12:30 p.m., Lee said.

Jones failed to return home from her job at a mortgage company in Santa Monica, police said.

She also failed to pick up her 14-year-old son that day, police said.

According to several coworkers, Jones –- who had reportedly come into a significant inheritance following the death of her mother last fall -- had discovered that a large portion of money in her bank accounts had been taken.

She left the business to check the matter with the banks and was never seen again, coworkers said.

News wires contributed to this report.