Body found in northeast Houston believed to be that of missing woman

  

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- The search for a missing woman ends tragically in northeast Houston.

Texas EquuSearch volunteers found a body believed to be 48-year-old Norma Jean Scott. The mother and grandmother was last seen Thursday.

The body was discovered around 6pm near Scott's home. It has not yet been identified but we do know it is that of a naked African American female.

Ruby Lee is the kind of woman who helps her neighbors when she can, and as a mother of six, Scott was often a recipient. So when the longtime Fifth Ward resident heard about the 48-year-old's disappearance, she headed to Scott's house only to find worse news: A body had just been found in an overgrown alley just a block from Scott's house.

"Sad, I just couldn't believe it," Lee said.

All day long Scott's children showed her picture to passing motorists and made pleas for help.

"I just miss my momma. She would always console us, and we don't have her to console us right now. We just need her," Soctt's daughter, Katherine Oparah said.

They hadn't seen or heard from her since last Thursday when a neighbor saw a man forcibly take her from her home. They recognized him as a boyfriend.

"She wouldn't up and leave like that," Soctt's daughter, Bridgette Scott, said.

While we were talking to Scott's family, Texas EquuSearch volunteers were aboard ATVs riding the neighborhood.

Just a few hours after they had been called to help, the searchers made a discovery. The body, they tell us, that matches Scott's description.

Her children distraught by the news could only watch as crime scene investigators worked past dusk, not far from where Scott was last seen.

"I'm going to be suspending the search until we know different," EquuSearch's Frank Wilson said. "I think the medical examiner's office will know fairly quick."

An ID likely will come Tuesday from the medical examiner's office.

Police say there were no visible signs of trauma on the body they recovered so they are not sure how the woman died. Authorities did say it appears to body had been there for days.

We do know Scott's boyfriend voluntarily went to a police substation, where he is being questioned.

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