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Mummified body was Laguna Hills woman

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COSTA MESA — Signe Margit, 59, of Laguna Hills has been identified as the woman whose mummified remains were found in the passenger seat of a car last week in Costa Mesa.

The corpse, covered in a pile of clothing, apparently had been driven around for up to 10 months, police said.

Margit’s identity was withheld pending notification of next of kin, police Sgt. Phil Myers said.

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She had been reported as a missing person when she stoped contacting her family in December 2009, according to police.

The body was discovered last week by officers investigating a car partially blocking a driveway in the 2000 block of Tustin Avenue.

Police continue to withhold the identity of the driver of the car, who told police that she allowed a transient to sleep in the car for a night while she visited with a friend in December 2009.

The unidentified woman, who is said to be a former real estate agent from Corona del Mar, was afraid to approach the police and continued to drive the car with decomposing body for the next 10 months.

No charges have yet to be pressed against the driver, Myers said.

The case is considered to be a suspicious death and an investigation is ongoing, he said.

More information will be released once police know the cause of death, however, the results from a toxicology report may take up to several weeks, he said.

—Sarah Peters

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