Jenna Lord Update: Authorities Confirm Body Found is Missing Penn. Mother
CAMDEN, N.J. (CBS/KYW) Authorities have confirmed that the body found in a vacant Camden lot is Jenna Lord, the Pennsylvania mother who disappeared on July 5.
On Sunday afternoon, Lord's uncle discovered his niece's badly decomposed and was able to identify her by the Mickey Mouse tattoo on her forearm.
Members of Lord's family have come forward and openly criticized the police for their search efforts or lack thereof.
"Someone should have just stepped up to the plate and help me find my daughter," Desiree Caruso, the victim's mother, told CBS affiliate KYW.
Both the Camden and Collingdale Police Departments say they did everything in their power to locate Lord, but Caruso firmly believes that police had written her daughter off because she had struggled with drugs in the past.
Lord's family last saw her alive in Collingswood, but police obtained surveillance footage from a Camden train station that shows the young mother traveling to Philadelphia and then back with two unidentified males.
Details surrounding Lord's disappearance continue to emerge, and the Philadelphia Inquirer has reported that one of the men seen in the surveillance tapes directed the search party to the vacant lot and then ran away after Lord's family made the gruesome discovery.
Luckily, those involved in the search were able to track down the "good Samaritan" who they believe knew more about Lord's death than he was willing to share. They made sure that he was taken away and questioned by law enforcement.
He claims he and Lord did drugs that day in the lot, but told police she had passed out and that he left her there, reports the Inquirer.
Further details regarding the man and his unidentified companion have been withheld because the investigation into Lord's death is still open and ongoing.
Anyone who may have information is urged to contact the Collingdale Police Department at 610-583-0502.
Complete Coverage of Jenna Lord on Crimesider.
MORE ON CRIMESIDER:
July 19, 2010 - Jenna Lord's Body Found in Camden, Says Family; Mother Was Missing Nearly Two Weeks