Missing Mother Found Dead Inside Car Weeks After Her Disappearance

San Antonio, Texas, -- A Texas mother who had been missing for three weeks after she was last seen leaving to work, was found dead inside her car in the parking lot of a shopping mall, police said Monday.

Christina Lee Powell from San Antonio, who worked as a paralegal, went missing on July 5. The 39-year-old mother of two was found dead inside her Nissan Rogue that was parked outside the Huebner Oaks Center in San Antonio on Saturday night.

Powell's body was discovered by a security guard who noticed a foul smell emanating from the vehicle, which was parked in the same spot outside the mall for about a week.

"He looked inside the vehicle and observed a body in the front passenger side seat and called 911," police said, as reported by NY Post.

Cops also found her purse and ID inside the vehicle. It is unclear when Powell died and her body did not show any apparent trauma, reports said.

Meanwhile, the investigators said they are waiting for the autopsy report to determine the exact cause of death.

A door cam footage from Powell's house showed her rushing to leave the house at about 10:30 a.m. on July 5. Powell’s mother, Claudia Moble, who lived with her, said she left behind her phone and Apple Watch.

Powell had called her office to let them know that she was running late, Moble said, as reported by Star-Telegram.

However, Moble did not notice anything unusual that day. "We didn’t really have any kind of in-depth conversation. It was basically, ‘Good morning.’ She told me she was late. Then, she was leaving for work and I told her to be careful. And I probably told her, 'I love you,'" Moble said.

The family realized that Powell was missing when her colleague showed up at the home asking for her after she failed to show up at the office.

"My beautiful daughter, Christina Powell, has been found, deceased. I am heartbroken. Thank you all for your prayers," Moble wrote on Facebook sharing the tragic news of her daughter's death.