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Oceanside woman found dead in car identified

Posted at 6:24 AM, Dec 27, 2016
and last updated 2016-12-28 02:18:09-05
OCEANSIDE (KGTV) -- A woman whose body was discovered inside of a vehicle Monday night has been identified by police as 22-year-old Melisa Contreras. 
 
Oceanside police arrested a suspect, 23-year-old Uriel Leon, in connection with Contreras' suspicious death.
 
Leon has been transported to the Vista Detention Facility, according to authorities. 
 
Police responded to a call of a "person down" inside a vehicle near the intersection of West Redondo and Luna drives at around 8:40 p.m., according to Oceanside police Sgt. Rick Favela.
 
Officers arrived and discovered the victim's body.
 
Barbara Leidle lives in the neighborhood. She told 10News she saw Contreras in her car. 
 
"I saw her. You know the paramedics were here the police were and I looked and I just saw her in there." Leidle said. "And I'm like wait a minute I did not just see that. And I backed up and I went 'oh yeah.'"
 
Leidle said in the neighborhood, drive-by shootings aren't uncommon. But in this case, it seems more personal. 
 
"I'm sorry she's gone," Leidle said. "I just hope she didn't have a lot of pain."
 
A makeshift memorial has popped up where her body was found. One mourner told 10News that Contreras was an "awesome" mother of three who had a good job and lived nearby. 
 
Police have not released details on Contreras' murder. 
 
If you would like to help the family, a GoFundMe page has been set up for them