Police on Sunday were investigating how a woman’s body ended up on a Southern California freeway after she was seen just hours earlier.
The woman, identified as Martha Rodezno, 51, of Los Angeles, was last seen about midnight at a family gathering in Mission Viejo when she became upset and left on foot, according to the Santa Ana Police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna.
A California Highway Patrol officer discovered her body just before 3 a.m. Sunday on the transition ramp from the northbound Santa Ana (5) Freeway to the Garden Grove (22) Freeway in Santa Ana, CHP Sgt. Brian Demattia said.
She was found dead nearly 20 miles away from the home where she was last seen, and her purse was found near her body, officials said.
Santa Ana police said the cororner did not believe the Rodezno’s injuries were consistent with a hit-and-run accident on the freeway, and her cause of death is still not known, officials said.
Anyone with information is asked to call Santa Ana homicide detectives at 714-245-8390.
