SAN DIEGO (CNS) - Authorities sought Wednesday to determine if two bodies recovered from a car found partially submerged in Lower Otay Lake are those of a pair of clothing-store workers reported missing last weekend.
A sheriff's helicopter crew helping search for 23-year-old Milyn Chew and fellow Loft employee Aser Elsharkawy spotted the latter's BMW 3 Series sedan upside down in the southern San Diego County reservoir shortly before 7 p.m. Tuesday, according to the Chula Vista Police Department.
The bodies of a man and woman were inside the crumpled car, which apparently had crashed off adjacent Otay Lakes Road, overturned and tumbled into the water, CVPD Lt. Kenny Heinz said.
Chew's and Elsharkawy's whereabouts had been unknown since early Sunday. About 2:15 that morning, Chew left her boyfriend's San Ysidro home and drove to her family's house in eastern Chula Vista, according to police. Phone records showed she then made a call to Elsharkawy, who apparently proceeded to pick her up in his BMW.
The nature of the relationship between Chew and Elsharkawy was unclear, outside of working for the same retailer at different locations -- Otay Ranch Town Center and Fashion Valley mall, respectively.
The California Highway Patrol was investigating the car crash, and the county Medical Examiner's Office was working to identify the bodies and make cause-of-death determinations.