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Missing University Of Maryland Student Found Dead

COLLEGE PARK, Md. (WJZ) -- A missing University of Maryland student was found dead. Now police are scrambling to figure out what happened.

Marcus Washington has more.

"That is sad," said a neighbor.

A neighbor discovered the body after his dog kept barking. When he and his dog went around back, they found the woman's body unclothed. Neighbors say they saw a tattoo on her body.

"Yeah, I know they said they found her car in Prince William County but this is a shock of shocks if that's her body," said the neighbor.

Police responded to Cotton Mill Drive around 11 a.m. Friday and located a woman's body in a ditch a quarter of a mile from where Lizeth Lopez works as a youth counselor.

Her car was found there on Pond Run Drive a couple of days after she was last seen on surveillance video walking in and out of a CVS nearly two weeks ago, on April 17.

Police don't know how long the body was there.

Lopez was about to graduate from the University of Maryland with a degree in criminology. Her mother and sister were flying in from Bolivia to attend her graduation.

Lopez was reported missing after she didn't appear to pick up her niece from school. Lopez's sister, Janette Lopez, filed a missing person's report.

"I have a feeling somebody took her," said her sister.

Police are now investigating the death as a homicide.

The body is being transported to the medical examiner's office for an autopsy.

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