Body Of Missing Queens Woman Found In SUV; Death Ruled A Homicide
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A missing persons case turned into a murder investigation Tuesday, after police found a Queens woman dead in her sport-utility vehicle.
Dayo Corley, 43, was reported missing after she was last seen around 2 a.m. Saturday near 137th Avenue and Farmers Boulevard not far from her home in Rochdale Village.
The search came to a tragic end just after noon Monday when her body was discovered in the driver's seat of her black Chevy Equinox, police said.
The vehicle was found less than a mile away from her home at 122nd Avenue and Lakeview Lane near Baisley Pond Park, in Springfield Gardens, Queens. It was parked outside an abandoned home.
Police said she had signs of trauma around her neck and initially said they believed she was strangled, but later said she was believed to have been shot. Her death was deemed a homicide.
"The autopsy is being done right now. She has two small holes in the back of her skill we're obviously pursuing it as a homicide," Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said.
CBS2's Valerie Castro stopped by the home of Corley's former boyfriend, Qwantrell Gilliam, on Tuesday night. Castro was told Gilliam was not home, and a family member had no comment about Corley's death.
Police sources said Corley's son told investigators his mother had recently kicked Gilliam out of her Jamaica, Queens home. But Corley's son said lately, Gilliam had been showing up and quarreling with her, and he said Gilliam broke her phone and physically assaulted her.
Gilliam is also suspected to have slashed the tires on Corley's car just last week.
As CBS2's Hazel Sanchez reported, Corley was a mother of two -- a teenage son and 12-year-old daughter, whom she simply adored.
Corley was also a beloved, active member of the St. John's Episcopal Church in Springfield Gardens -- a Eucharist minister and choir member.
"We knew that something had to be amiss when we heard of her missing on Sunday. Because she would never leave her children, she loved them dearly," parish priest the Rev. Jerrick Rayside said.
Rayside called Corley "so young, so vibrant – always willing to serve; always with a smile."
He said dealing with Corley's lost has hit the church community hard.
"I thought that I had gotten accustomed to dealing with the passing of members, but this one struck me terribly," he told CBS2's Castro.
A neighbor who asked not to be identified said she saw Corley's car on Saturday afternoon, but didn't see Corley.
She said very few people would have walked passed the car, and its windows appeared tinted.
"Because of the weather, nobody noticed her in there," she said.
Corley's son answered the door to detectives when they returned to the family's Rochdale Village apartment hoping to flush out any information that could lead them to the killer.
"She came, she sat down for one hour, told me about all her problems she was having which are without mention, but she had that faith and confidence that God would help her to overcome it," he said.
No arrests have been made.
The investigation is ongoing.