California police find car of missing family with woman dead in the trunk

This combination photo released by the Montebello, Calif., Police Department shows the Perez family, who have been missing from their Montebello home since Friday, Dec. 5, 2014. Authorities are searching for Daniel and Erica Perez, a couple with a troubled and violent marriage, and their four sons, Jordan, 11, Jaiden, 9, Tristan, 8, and Alex, 6. A police statement said neither parent is returning phone messages and the father hasn't showed up for work for two days. Family members tell police the marriage was unstable and there's a history of domestic violence. Montebello is about 15 miles east of downtown Los Angeles.
This combination photo released by the Montebello, Calif., Police Department shows the Perez family, who have been missing from their Montebello home since Friday, Dec. 5, 2014. Authorities are searching for Daniel and Erica Perez, a couple with a troubled and violent marriage, and their four sons, Jordan, 11, Jaiden, 9, Tristan, 8, and Alex, 6. A police statement said neither parent is returning phone messages and the father hasn't showed up for work for two days. Family members tell police the marriage was unstable and there's a history of domestic violence. Montebello is about 15 miles east of downtown Los Angeles.

MONTEBELLO, Calif. — Police have found the car that belonged to a Southern California couple and their four young sons, and the body of a woman was discovered in the trunk, authorities said.

The Honda Accord belonging to Daniel and Erica Perez and their sons whose ages range from 6 to 11 was found near a hospital about a half-mile from their home in Montebello, police Capt. Luis Lopez said at a news conference Wednesday night.

Lopez would say only that a dead woman was in the trunk, but would not provide her identity or cause of death, deferring those and other details to the coroner's office. He said Daniel Perez is now considered a person of interest.

Lopez called the discovery "alarming."

"We are concerned for their safety," Lopez said.

The family had not been seen since Friday and neither adult had been answering their phone.

Lopez said an Amber Alert is now being issued for a 2014 black Toyota Camry with California license plate 7FDS891 connected to the family.

Family members told investigators the couple's marriage was unstable and there was a history of domestic violence, police said.

Their four sons are Jordan, 11, Jaiden, 9, Tristan, 8, and Alex, 6.

Montebello is about 15 miles east of downtown Los Angeles.

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