TACOMA -- The body of 25-year-old Danielle McGowan, who disappeared nearly a week ago, has been found in her car in Tacoma, her sister said Friday. Police said foul play is not suspected.
Police said McGowan's car was spotted by a passerby parked at a Walgreen's on 6th Avenue Thursday night. The female driver was dead, police said, adding that there did not appear to be any violence involved in the death.
Police said the identification was not complete, but McGowan's sister, Sharon Shadwell, confirmed on her "Bring Home Danielle" Facebook page that the body was her sister's.
"It is with a very heavy heart that I have to inform you all that Danielle's body was found in her car earlier this evening in the Walgreen's parking lot on 6th Avenue and N Stevens, less than a mile from home," Shadwell wrote. "According to the detective, the cause of death was not clear from the scene. We are hoping for answers in the medical examiner's report a couple of months from now."
After thanking supporters and searchers, Shadwell said, "If any of you are willing and able to support us in one final way, would you take down any of Danielle's missing person flyers you see? I'm sure the businesses would appreciate this, and it would be a blessing to us not to stumble across them in the community."
She concluded, "As I'm sure you all can imagine, we are devastated at the loss of our beloved youngest sister, daughter, and auntie. We know that she is at peace, which is a comfort as we begin the journey of grieving her death and figuring out how to live without her; but we are stunned and emotionally reeling."
McGowan was last seen at about 2:30 a.m. last Saturday, when she was talking to a friend in the area of her home in north Tacoma, police said. She then drove away in her car toward downtown Tacoma.
She "has not been in touch with family or friends, which her family said is very unusual," police said in a news release at the time. "Her family is concerned that she may be in some type of danger."
Tacoma police said McGowan had made plans to meet someone in downtown Tacoma on the morning of her disappearance.