A man is in custody after El Cajon police officers found a woman’s body inside the trunk of a car. Investigators say it all started with a report of a possible abduction and then a pursuit through El Cajon. NBC 7’s Dave Summers spoke to witnesses who saw it all unfold.
A man is in custody after El Cajon officers found a dead woman inside the trunk of a car following a police chase that ended in a three-vehicle crash on Tuesday, officials said.
The El Cajon Police Department responded to a report of a possible kidnapping just before 5 p.m. When officers found the suspect's car — a black Hyundai Sonata — near Madison and Magnolia avenues, the driver refused to stop, prompting a pursuit through El Cajon and Spring Valley, according to ECPD Lt. Nick Sprecco.
The driver then returned to El Cajon before crashing into two vehicles near Interstate 8 on North Mollison Avenue, police said. Sprecco says officers used a taser to gain control of the driver, who got out of the car, and took him into custody. Investigators are working to confirm his identity.
Officers later discovered a 51-year-old woman's body in the trunk when searching the car, ECPD said. Police did not provide any other details about the woman, like how or when she died or her connection to the suspect, if any.
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After the crash, both sides of North Mollison Avenue were shut down for several hours. Caltrans San Diego said the eastbound and westbound I-8 off-ramps to Mollison Avenue were also closed due to police activity.
UPDATE: EB I-8 off-ramp to Mollison Ave open. WB I-8 MOLLISON remains closed, due to police activity.
— Caltrans San Diego (@SDCaltrans) February 26, 2025
Video from SkyRanger 7 shows several El Cajon Police Department and Heartland Fire and Rescue vehicles surrounding what appears to be the Sonata with a pickup truck on one side and a small sedan on the other. Police say the people inside those two other vehicles were not hurt in the crash.
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The San Diego County Sheriff's Department's ASTREA helicopter was helping ECPD with the pursuit, the department told NBC 7.
Witnesses say the chase started at the Motel 6 on Montrose Court in El Cajon. ECPD Lt. Joe Crawford confirmed the kidnapping call came from a local motel near where the suspect's car was found.
"I just heard yelling," Ian Forbes, a guest at the motel, told NBC 7. "I didn't know what was going on."
Forbes said his friend saw a fight in the back of the motel between teenagers and the man driving the Sonata. An NBC 7 crew saw police there, processing a first-floor room. Forbes said the argument was over the children's mother.
"If it was an accident, they would call the ambulance," Forbes said. "If it was an overdose, they would have to care about somebody and wouldn't put them in the trunk."
El Cajon police are still investigating.
This is a developing story that will be updated as more information arrives.
NBC 7's Dave Summers contributed to this report.
