The missing vehicle that slain 36-year-old Chenin Carlson was driving when she left her Manteca home for the first day of work at a new job in Tracy last month has been found and is in police custody.

According to the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office, the vehicle – a grey 2008 Honda Pilot – was spotted by a resident and called in and was subsequently towed back to the Sheriff’s Office so that it could be extensively searched by the investigation team.

While investigators have declined to state where specifically the vehicle was found and how long it has been in their possession, sources in the community have confirmed that it was found in the South County and was not located in the aqueduct where Carlson’s body was discovered by fisherman several days before Christmas.

Carlson, a Manteca resident and mother of two, had reportedly left her home on Fern Dell Lane in Manteca to start a new job at an Amazon warehouse off of Chrisman Road on Saturday, Dec. 19. A body was discovered the following day by a pair of fishermen in the area, and authorities announced on Dec. 23 that the body was that of the missing Manteca woman.

She was reported missing by her family and the Manteca Police Department was actively investigating her disappearance until it was publicly released that the body belonged to that of the missing woman. The San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office is now investigating the homicide.

A search warrant was executed on Carlson’s Manteca home by the sheriff’s office in an attempt to gather evidence, but no arrests have been made at this point and investigators have stated publicly that there are no official suspects in the case.

While details have not been released, authorities announced that Carlson’s body showed evidence that she was the victim of a homicide.

The investigation into her disappearance and death remains ongoing. Information about where the car was discovered – and whether it was driven there by Carlson before she got into another vehicle, or whether it was driven there after she disappeared – is not being released by investigators at this time out of concern that it could “jeopardize the investigation.”

Anybody with information about Carlson’s disappearance or anything else relevant to the case is encouraged contact the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office at 209.468.4400 and reference case no. 20-27205.

To contact reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3544.