Police find body of woman taken from Mich. store
Police confirm body found in suburban Detroit is young woman who disappeared from store
A missing person flyer for Brenna Machus is posted outside the Family Dollar store in Dearborn, Mich., where she is an assistant manager, Wednesday, July 17, 2013. Friends and relatives of Machus made a tearful appeal to the public Wednesday for information about their "shining star," two days after the 20-year-old was abducted from the discount store and a co-worker was fatally shot. (AP Photo/Ed White)
DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) -- Police investigating the abduction of a 20-year-old woman from a discount store found her body Thursday in a wooded area in suburban Detroit, less than 2 miles away.
Brenna Machus, an assistant manager, was last seen Monday night at a Family Dollar store in Dearborn. A co-worker, Joseph Orlando, 20, was found fatally shot when other employees arrived for work Tuesday morning. He had been hired just last week.
The identity of the body was confirmed as Machus, said Nancy Hamood Strutz, assistant to Dearborn Police Chief Ron Haddad.
"I feel rather enraged we have another homicide in Dearborn," Haddad told reporters earlier, when the body was found.
The store's surveillance video captured images of a suspect, who waved as he walked into the store Monday night. Police are urging the public to call with any tips about the man who wore dark clothes with a hood over his head. His face can't be seen on the video, but Haddad hoped someone would recognize his clothing or the way he walks.
The Family Dollar is in a busy retail area on the west side of Dearborn, with a hardware store and restaurants nearby.
Haddad said one of two women who were in the store between 7 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Monday contacted police and is cooperating in the investigation. She is not a suspect.
Detectives still hope to talk to the other woman. Police released her picture with the hope that it might bring her in. She, too, is not a suspect.
The discovery of Machus' body was a tragic development. Friends and relatives had made a tearful public appeal Wednesday for information on her whereabouts. Lisa Machus called her daughter a "shining star."
Tina Cable drove to the police staging area when she heard that a body had been found. Her son was Machus' friend.
"I want them to catch who did this," Cable said.
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