D.C. yoga instructor who disappeared on way to holiday party found dead
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A Washington, D.C., yoga instructor who disappeared on Christmas afternoon on her way to a holiday dinner with friends was found dead, according to her family, and police said Tuesday they have a suspect in custody.
8In a post on Facebook, the family of 46-year-old Tricia McCauley said their grueling wait for news ended tragically when they were told by police she was dead, reports CBS affiliate WUSA-TV.
8“Tricia is gone, they have found her body,” Brian McCauley, Tricia’s brother, wrote. “Thank you all for your work, support and love. To all of her D.C. family, I know she truly thought of you that way, thank you for being there for her all these years. Hang on to each other.”
Police said that her body was found in her car, a white Toyota Scion, in front of a CVS on M Street.
Sources say local yoga teacher and actress Tricia McCauley's body was found in white scion right here in front of CVS on M Street. @wusa9 pic.twitter.com/sBBMM6nfUT
— Hilary Lane (@HilaryLWUSA9) December 27, 2016
Interim D.C. police chief Peter Newsham said they have a suspect in the case, but did not indicate what he is being charged with. Police have not identified the suspect.
Police do not believe McCauley and the suspect knew each other.
Around 10:50 p.m. on Monday, surveillance video showed a man driving McCauley’s car from a CVS on Rhode Island Ave., WUSA reported. Police found her car around midnight on 22nd and M Street.
A photo has been released of the man who may have been driving the her car.
Newsham said the police need the public’s help to put together a better timeline of what happened between McCauley’s disappearance and the finding of her body, which is why they have released an image of the suspect but no name yet.
The suspect apparently robbed a CVS at some point during McCauley’s disappearance, and assaulted employees, which led police to look for him, Newsham said.
While an autopsy has not been completed, there appears to be trauma to McCauley’s body, Newsham said.