Body Found in Car in West Hartford Possibly Tied to Missing Person Case

Police said the car is connected to a missing person case in Farmington.

A man's body found in a car parked outside a Red Robin restaurant in West Hartford on Sunday may be linked to a missing person case out of Farmington, according to police.

Farmington police said an employee of the Cellairis kiosk at nearby Westfarms Mall has been missing since the night of Aug. 11 and was driving the car in which the body was found the night he disappeared, a red two-door Honda with tinted windows.

The owner of Cellairis filed a missing person complaint with Farmington police on Aug. 19 for one of his employees who has been missing since leaving the mall around 9:30 p.m. on Aug. 11, according to police.

Authorities discovered the body the afternoon of Sunday, Aug. 23 after someone reported a foul odor and a possible corpse in the back of a car outside Red Robin at 1509 New Britain Avenue.

West Hartford police spokesman Lt. Ted Stoneburner said the body "had clearly been there for some time." Authorities are investigating the case as an untimely death and have called it suspicious.

"I don’t know what happened to the party in the car," said West Hartford police Det. Eric Rocheleau. "Obviously, there’s a million different reasons that person could have ended up there."

Police have not identified the person found dead or said whether he is the missing Westfarms employee. Farmington police had previously put out an alert seeking the car.

An autopsy is scheduled for Monday. Police are waiting for the medical examiner to identify the body and "probably do a full investigation on it," Rocheleau said. No cause of death has been determined.

Police said the incident poses no risk to the public. Farmington and West Hartford police are investigating the case together.

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