PD: Body found in trunk of car towed from Phoenix neighborhood

PHOENIX - Police have identified a man whose body was discovered in the trunk of a car dumped in a Phoenix neighborhood Thursday.

Phoenix Police Department Sergeant Tommy Thompson said 22-year-old David Estrada was last seen on Monday around 2 p.m. when he borrowed his father’s 1989 Lincoln Continental Town Car to go to a job interview at a Church's Chicken in the area of 23rd and Dunlap avenues.

The vehicle was later discovered in an alley in the area of 43rd Avenue and Bethany Home Road marking the second time in two days a body was found inside an abandoned vehicle.

"It gives me a little eerie feeling that somebody dumped a car in the alley behind my house and there's a body in it," said Jimmy Romero, who reported the abandoned vehicle. "It's not safe."

Romero said he noticed the disheveled Lincoln Town Car behind his home and called it in Tuesday.

Phoenix Police Department spokesman Tommy Thompson confirmed officers towed the abandoned vehicle from an alley near 43rd Avenue and Bethany Home Road around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday.

The car was taken to an impound lot near 27th Avenue and US 60, where employees discovered the man's body inside the trunk Thursday afternoon after noticing a strong odor.

The man had reportedly been dead for several days.

"I didn't smell anything, the car didn't look bad," said Romero. "The dash was busted out, the glove compartment was open and emptied, the ignition switch was busted."

Neighbors say they are a close-knit community and have a block watch, but the crime still has people on edge.

"There's a lot of elderly people in this neighborhood," said Mike James, who lives a few doors down. "There are a lot of families and small children right here, so it makes you stop and think."

"I sleep with my window open at night and I'm not going to do that now," said Tammy Slaughter, who grew up in the neighborhood.

Thompson said police have ruled the man's death a homicide, but have little information about the incident at this time. Officials have not confirmed the cause of the man's death.

Police have not yet identified the victim, but say they have "a good idea" who he is.

Thompson said the investigation is ongoing.

Anyone with information is encouraged to call the Phoenix Police Department Violent Crimes Bureau at (602) 262-6141 or “SILENT WITNESS” at (480) W-I-T-N-E-S-S.

The grisly discovery marks the second time in two days that a man's body was found inside the trunk of an abandoned vehicle, both apparent homicide victims.

On Wednesday morning , police responded to reports of a suspicious vehicle parked in front of an abandoned Glendale home and found a man inside the car, dead from gunshot wounds.