Student’s Body Found in Car Trunk : Suspect Arrested in Slaying of Missing Compton Woman

The body of a Compton honors student and school leader missing for two days was found stuffed in the trunk of her car on a busy street in downtown San Diego on Friday, and a suspect in the death was arrested several hours later, police reported.

Police late Friday said the 24-year-old suspect had been arrested in the killing of Lina Aldridge, 19. Although police would not identify the man, reports indicated that he was a basketball player and student at Compton College who was seen with Aldridge shortly before she disappeared.

However, police were withholding his name and details on how the crime may have been committed.

Aldridge was last seen by her family at 10 p.m. Wednesday when she left home to drive two friends to their homes, said Katie Aldridge, her grandmother. The girl said she would be back in 10 minutes, she added.

A San Diego meter maid ticketed Aldridge’s car at 3:30 p.m. Thursday for parking in a red zone near San Diego City Hall. The meter maid became concerned when she noticed that the car was still there at 10 a.m. Friday and notified police, San Diego police spokesman David Cohen said.

A license plate check revealed that the car was identified in a missing person’s report filed by Compton police. San Diego homicide detectives opened the car’s trunk and discovered the body, Cohen said. Police believe that the car was parked on the street after 2 p.m. Thursday.

A San Diego coroner’s deputy identified Aldridge’s body. The body had no visible marks, and the cause of death had not been determined as of late Friday, Coroner’s Deputy Cal Vine said.

Aldridge, an honors student at Compton Community College, where she was an English major, was a bright and promising student leader, those who knew her said Friday. She was vice president of the college’s student association and held two jobs.

She worked as a part-time receptionist at the dental office of Walter Tucker, Compton’s part-time mayor. The mayor said he knew something was terribly wrong when Aldridge did not report to work Thursday morning.

“She was a neighbor, someone I knew since she was 2 or 3, and just a beautiful girl,” Tucker said. “I personally called the (Compton) police chief yesterday because I knew she just would not disappear on her own.”

“She was a very intelligent girl and really nice,” co-worker Cleo Bawson said through tears.

Wednesday night, Aldridge attended a reception at her college and then stopped at home before leaving with two other students, Katie Aldridge said. The victim’s female friend later told police that Aldridge dropped her off at her house, then left with the male student, Compton Police Lt. M.D. Bunton said.

Notified that her granddaughter’s body had been found in San Diego, Katie Aldridge fought to control her voice. She said that she had raised Lina mostly alone and that she held out slim hope that the body was not Lina’s.

“I’m all that she’s got, and she was all that I had,” the grandmother said.