BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. – A search for a missing person Friday in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea led deputies to an Alligator Alley rest stop, where they found the woman they were looking for dead inside of a car containing “a chemical substance” — and a sign in the windshield reading “DANGER - DEADLY GAS - CALL HAZMAT.”
Medics took the responding Broward Sheriff’s Office deputy to a local hospital as a precaution after she was potentially exposed to that substance.
A number of fire rescue crews, including hazmat units, were at the scene Friday afternoon.
The woman found inside the Subaru Forester at around noon had been reported missing earlier from the 5500 block of North Ocean Drive.
Deputies had been informed that her vehicle was spotted at the rest area near mile marker 31.
Authorities haven’t publicly identified the woman, the “chemical substance” or her cause or manner of death.
BSO crime scene technicians and homicide detectives were investigating.
Editor’s note: Local 10 News previously reported that a man was found dead inside the car, however, authorities confirmed Tuesday that a woman, who they identified as Iva Vucic, was identified as the deceased victim.