Missing La Puente woman found dead in minivan

A woman reported missing for several days was discovered stabbed to death in a minivan by family members who were summoned by police over the weekend to pick up the vehicle, which was found in a parking lot near the Pomona Superior Court, authorities said Monday.

The body of Eileen Nicole Orta was found Friday by relatives under some blankets and clothes inside the maroon Plymouth Voyager, which was illegally parked near the Civic Center Plaza, said Lt. Ron McDonald of the Pomona Police Department.

Orta’s relatives had filed a missing person’s report on the 22-year-old La Puente resident on Feb. 12 that gave a full description of Orta and the van, including its license plate, McDonald said.

A missing person’s warrant was then entered into a national law enforcement database, he said. When the van was found, police notified the family to pick it up before it was impounded, but apparently no one looked inside the vehicle.

Instead, relatives found Orta’s body, police and coroner’s officials said. Orta was pronounced dead at the scene of what was later determined to be a stab wound to the neck.

McDonald said the department is investigating the circumstances of the case and is trying to determine what agency was responsible for checking the vehicle.

“We contacted Covina police regarding the vehicle and, in turn, notification was made to the family,” McDonald said. “I can’t say whether we did it or they it,” he said in reference to the notification.

andrew.blankstein@latimes.com