Body Believed to Be Chiropractor’s : Discovery: Victim was apparently killed when Corvette went off Ortega Highway more than two months ago.

Authorities on Sunday discovered a body believed to be a Capistrano Beach chiropractor missing since Dec. 2 in the wreckage of a car that apparently plunged off Ortega Highway.

The body was too badly decomposed to be identified by photographs, Orange County Deputy Coroner Richard McAnally said. But based on a physical description, the type of vehicle involved and “other pieces of identification found at the scene” authorities concluded that the victim was Steve Sales, 59, who disappeared more than two months ago.

A positive identification is pending a comparison of dental records, McAnally said.

A Sheriff’s Department helicopter spotted Sales’ Corvette on Sunday morning on the side of a ravine along Ortega Highway in an unincorporated area east of San Juan Capistrano.

In the weeks leading up to his disappearance, Sales had told his ex-wife and office manager that he was depressed about failing health and his failing business.

His former wife, Rita Sales, 45, of San Juan Capistrano, said after Sales’ disappearance that she feared foul play.

But McAnally said there is no reason to suspect foul play. The incident is being investigated as an accident or possible suicide, McAnally said.

“Anytime we have an unwitnessed vehicle accident where a car has left the roadway with no evidence to indicate why, we have to consider the possibility that the vehicle left the roadway intentionally,” McAnally said.

The California Highway Patrol is investigating the cause of the accident, McAnally said.