Ariana Taylor, missing woman from Gary, Indiana, found dead in Lake Station
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Authorities in Gary, Indiana, announced Wednesday afternoon they have found the body of Ariana Taylor, a young mother who has been missing for more than a week.
Gary Police Cmdr. Jack Hamady said, during a search Wednesday morning, K-9 units found a woman's body in a shallow drainage ditch near the Bellaboo's Play and Discovery Center in the 2800 block of Colorado Street in Lake Station, Ind.
The Lake County Coroner's office and Taylor's family have confirmed the body is Taylor's, according to Hamady. The location where it was found is about 2 miles away from where Taylor's car was found last week.
"Without question, it's unfortunate that we're here today, but what's more unfortunate are the results of the investigation that has positively identified the body that was identified as that of Ariana Taylor," Gary Mayor Jerome Prince said. "I want to offer the entire city of Gary some solace, as well as certainly more important the family."
Prince and Gary Police Chief Brian Evans also thanked the many Gary residents who helped police with the search for Taylor.
"We can always count on our citizens to be available to us; to provide information, tips; and to come out and help us," Evans said.
Evans said he spoke to Taylor's mother at the scene after the body was found, "and she's as any mother or anybody would be that has suffered such a great loss."
"She is doing as well as anybody can be expected," he said.
The discovery of Taylor's body comes just days after an odd development in the case, when police announced Sunday they had found a body in a grassy area, but hours later said what they found was not a body at all, but rather a rubber silicone doll.
Taylor was last heard from around 1 a.m. on April 3, and was last seen by her family in nearby Merrillville. Police found her car two days later, crashed off I-65. Her family has said they suspect foul play, but it was not immediately clear how Taylor died.
Police said an autopsy has not yet been completed to determine how Taylor died, but they do not believe there is any threat to the public, and there is not an ongoing search for any suspects.
Hamady said a death investigation is underway while police wait to find out the cause of Taylor's death.
Police said it's also still unclear how Taylor's body ended up in the ditch, but Hamady said it's conceivable she walked there after crashing her car.