A missing Arizona woman who reportedly had a stalker was found dead Thursday, nearly three weeks after her car was discovered abandoned in a mall parking lot.
The Maricopa County Medical Examiner believes 25-year-old Doris Maricela Aguilar died July 7, however a cause of death remains pending, according to KTVK-TV.
Authorities have not identified any possible suspects in connection with her disappearance and death, but loved ones surmised a previous coworker-turned-stalker might have something to do with it.
"There was this man that would follow her to different gyms," Aguilar's friend, David Lara, told KSAZ-TV earlier this week, before her death was confirmed.
"I believe that guy took her," he accused. "I really hope that she is still here in Arizona and they didn't take her anywhere else."
Aguilar regularly complained about the man to friends and family. The ongoing harassment he subjected her to forced her to change gyms three times.
"She moved to Lifetime Fitness. And I think the last Facebook post that he made is a post saying, 'Getting my Lifetime membership back. See you soon,' and that was on June 27. Three days later we never saw her again and we never saw him either. We're still looking for him," Steve Fischer, a private investigator hired by her family, said, according to KTVK.
He added, "She did tell her family and important people in her life about this person, and that if anything happened to her, he was responsible and he scared her."
The investigation remains ongoing.
