LOS ANGELES

WEST COVINA (CBSLA.com) — Authorities say a death investigation is underway in West Covina after a woman’s body was found inside a vehicle.

West Covina police say around noon Tuesday, officers received a call by a person who noticed a body hunched over in the backseat of a gray Volkswagen sedan.

The discovery was made in a Stater Bros. parking lot in the 300 block of North Azusa Avenue.

Although investigators haven’t released the woman’s identity, DMV records show the car is registered to an Orange County woman and the coroner’s office confirms they’re working her case. The cause of death was not immediately known.

On the windshield of a vehicle, an Uber sticker turned sideways was visible, reported CBS2’s Rachel Kim. Police, however, say they cannot confirm whether the woman was a driver for the company.

“Detectives are going to do their investigation and maybe find out how long it had been here,” Sgt. Brian Daniels of the West Covina Police Department said.

It remains unclear how long the body had been inside the vehicle.

“They are thinking she might have been there a day or two because the smell was really bad already, so it’s just really sad. It’s really shocking,” said Celine Portillo, a shopper.

The body has since been removed from the scene by the coroner’s office.

Off-camera, Kim spoke with a man who says the woman is his aunt. He confirmed that the vehicle was in fact hers and that she had just become an Uber driver.

Police said they are looking through security footage from the shopping plaza for any clues.

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