Torrance, Calif. --A Jeep belonging to a Torrance woman found dead in a snow bank along state Route 330 in Running Springs Monday was found in Redondo Beach Tuesday.
Cori Daye Desmond, 28, was last seen in a bar Saturday night near where the Jeep was found, according to Arden Wiltshire of the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department.
Desmond's father Mark Desmond told NBC4 he found the 1998 Jeep Wrangler about one block from the Bac Street Lounge at 2422 Artesia Blvd. where she was last seen alive.
Surveillance video showed her leaving the bar alone around 2:30 a.m. Sunday, police said.
The body was found the next day when a motorist coming out of Big Bear stopped at a turnout about 2:30 p.m. to take snow chains off and saw a leg sticking out of a bag in a snow bank on the west side of the road near mile marker 38, Wiltshire said.
San Bernardino County sheriff's homicide detectives report Desmond suffered evidence of blunt force trauma, although there is no official caught of death.
An autopsy scheduled for this week will attempt to determine the cause of death.
Sgt. Phil Keenan of the Redondo Beach Police Department said Desmond had argued with a man at the bar that night.
"He was located and talked to," but not arrested, Keenan said.
Keenan said that because the case was being handled by San Bernardino authorities he did not know if the man was regarded as a suspect, but said he was sure the man was not in custody.
The lounge, where Desmond used to work, was familiar to Redondo Beach police, Keenan said.
"It gets its fair share of calls," Keenan said.
Desmond's father tearfully told NBC4 that he thought his daughter may have been "abducted or ran into somebody that she knew and went with them."
"She was a big girl so she could do what she wants, but she was smart and she was very strong," he said. "She was beautiful, she was my life. She'll be missed by a lot of people."
Anyone with information was asked to call detectives at (909) 387-3589.
Anonymous tips can also be made to 1 (800) 78-crime or on the Web at www.wetip.com.
