A Body Has Been Found Less Than Two Weeks After a Young Maryland Woman Went Missing

The family of a 19-year-old Maryland woman is desperate for answers following her disappearance on Aug. 22, 2025. "I’m exhausting any resource, anything I can think of," the mother of DaCara Thompson told NBC 4. Ten days after Thompson went missing, authorities extended the search area to include a half-mile radius around where the young girl's abandoned car was discovered.

Thompson's father found his daughter's car parked in front of a fire hydrant, pointed in the wrong direction. "I’m scared but still hopeful," said Daniel Thompson. Prince George's County Executive Aisha N. Braveboy said in a statement that she is taking this situation very seriously. "Once we learned that DaCara was missing, I asked to be kept up to date on the investigation," said Braveboy. What happened to DaCara Thompson? Here is the latest update.

On the night Thompson disappeared, she told her father she was running out to get gas. "She just said I'm going out. I'll be back," Daniel told WUSA 9. When Thompson hadn't returned an hour later, Daniel sent another text letting his daughter know he was about to go to bed but wanted to check on her. "I love you," wrote Daniel.

Thompson replied to her father's text almost immediately. "I got gas and I'm out," she said. "I should be back soon. I love you too. Good night." When Daniel woke up at 10 the next morning, he discovered his daughter had never returned home. Thompson's car was not parked outside, which prompted the concerned father to call her phone. She didn't answer. Daniel contacted her mother, who also hadn't seen Thompson.

"We both tried to communicate with her several times, phone calls, texts, everything, and she was not responsive to both of us, which was very unusual because she always responds," explained Carmen Thompson. Their 19-year-old daughter is the youngest of five, and everyone shares their locations through the Find My Phone app. This is how Daniel determined that Thompson's was turned off. They headed to its last known location, an intersection Thompson did not frequent.

Thompson's car was parked the wrong way in front of a fire hydrant. Inside, Daniel found his daughter's purse, which contained $60 in cash, her license, debit cards, bank cards, and her house keys. That's when they called the police. Surveillance footage from a neighbor's camera shows what appears to be Thompson getting out of the SUV and walking away.

On Sunday, Aug. 31, a body was found in Anne Arundel County, which is next to Prince George's County, that matches Thompson's description, reported NBC 4. "We have not yet confirmed that this is the missing girl," said Prince George’s County Police Chief George Nader in reference to Thompson. "But the characteristics are similar, so we’re exploring that."

The body was discovered by Maryland State Police, who have opened up a death investigation. "At this time, the identity of the deceased woman has not been confirmed," said the Prince George's County Police Department in a post to Facebook. They are awaiting results from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to determine the cause and manner of death.