VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — Volusia County Sheriff's Deputies are working to identify a woman's body found inside a car that may belong to a missing Port Orange woman.
Deputies found 34-year-old Danielle Santangelo's red Chrysler Sebring hidden in a heavily wooded area off Cherry Street in Deland Wednesday night.
"Our crime scene investigators had to get back there with machetes trying to hack a little path. We had a truck out here with a winch hooked to the car, inching it out slowly," said Brandon Haught with the Volusia County Sheriff's Office.
But so far, detectives have not confirmed that the body is that of Santangelo or how the person died. However, they did say that the woman was murdered.
"There is trauma to the body but we are not discussing what kind of trauma at this point," Haught said.
Sheriff Deputies are working with Port Orange Police to find out how the car and the body got there.
"The Port Orange Police Department has been working a missing person's case since Monday and through investigative leads they were led to the discovery of the car," Haught said.
Santangelo's mother reported her daughter missing Monday night after she couldn't reach her.
WFTV
