Police in Tampa, Florida, have identified a body found last week as 27-year-old Teneisha Griffith.
Griffith disappeared from her Tampa home on March 19 and was found in Lacoochee near the Withlacoochee State Forest, about 50 miles northeast of Tampa, on 24 March.
She was reported missing after her 12-year-old daughter could not reach her mother on the phone for multiple days, reports said.
“I said, ‘she’ll answer’”, said Maria Navarro, the mother of Griffith, said in an interview with News Channel 8. She also recalled her granddaughter telling her: “I’m calling my mom but she’s not answering”.
Griffith, an employee for Amazon, had returned home from work the previous day but had not phoned her mother or daughter, who was staying with her grandmother, the Tampa Bay Times reported.
Another warning came when friends of Griffith reportedly told her family that she had not turned-up at a social gathering on 19 March. A five-day long search then ensued.
Griffith’s sister, Darcelle, told the news station on Tuesday that “a piece of my heart is gone” after the discovery of her body last week.
“Teneisha knows that we love her and we’re all about unity and we’ll keep her spirit alive,” she told News Channel 8. “I’m gonna miss my sister. There’s no other way to describe it, a piece of my heart is gone.”
Police are calling for anybody with knowledge about Griffith’s death to come forward, with it still remaining unclear why she was in the area around Lacoochee.
Her car, a white 2008 Nissan Altima, also remains missing, according to police.
Rena Walters, one of three sisters of Griffith, told the Tampa Bay Times that finding the car could lead to understanding why Griffith vanished last week.
“It doesn’t matter....if you don’t think it’s a big deal, just please come forward with whatever information you had”, she said.
A funeral for Griffith will take place next week, according to a fundraising page on Go Fund Me. Some $2,900 (£2,200) has been raised far for he daughter.
