Body found in search for missing mom on Long Island, N.Y.

MEDFORD, N.Y. - A volunteer search party on Thursday found a female body in a wooded area near where a missing 21-year-old woman's car was discovered abandoned on Long Island, N.Y., said Suffolk County police.

The search party, comprised of 40 to 50 people, found the body, described as a "young female," in a thickly wooded area off Camden Court in a residential part of Medford and called 911 shortly after 6 p.m. Thursday, said Det. Lt. Kevin Beyrer, the commanding officer of the Suffolk County Police Homicide Squad.

Beyrer said the body was discovered "in close proximity" to where missing mother Sarah Goode's car was found on Sunday.

He added that police were not ready to make a positive identification on the remains and declined to say whether there were any obvious signs of trauma. He said the medical examiner would determine the cause of death.

"This is an active investigation; we're conducting it as a homicide investigation," he said.

According to police, the Medford mother had watched a movie on TV with some close friends Friday night. Police did not say when and how the group parted for the night.

An older sister of Goode's called police around 9 p.m. Sunday, saying that the close-knit family hadn't heard from her in two days and that was unusual, police said. About an hour later, police found Goode's 1999 gray BMW parked near a wooded area around Medford. The car showed no signs of a crash or violence. Police did, however, call the disappearance "suspicious."

Goode works at a medical facility in the area and is raising a 4-year-old daughter with her family's help, according to police.

Thursday night's search party was organized by family members and friends of Goode, Beyrer said. They were searching the area on foot.

"We worked our way towards where the car was seen out in Medford," volunteer searcher David Zornes told CBS New York. "We looked at the map and saw a big wooded area, so we decided to search."

"I felt it my duty to come out tonight and help and unfortunately, this is where I think she was found," Sharon Verderosa, also with the search party, told the station.