Missing Man Found Dead : Crime: The body of Garden Grove resident who disappeared last week is discovered in the trunk of his car in a Santa Ana lot. He had been shot to death.

A 44-year-old Garden Grove man who disappeared last week while inspecting property he managed was found shot to death Monday in the trunk of his car, police said.

Police found Philip George Cousins’ car in a parking lot in the 2400 block of West 3rd Street, said Santa Ana Police Lt. Robert Helton. The victim was identified through photographs, Helton said. No identification was found on the body.

Helton said a preliminary investigation revealed that the victim had two gunshot wounds--one in the back of the head and the other in the chest. Investigators had not pinpointed a motive in the case, he said. Cousins’ Honda Accord did not appear to have been ransacked, Helton said.

“All of our options are open right now,” Helton said. “Why he was killed in the way he was we’re still investigating.”

Robbery is just one of several possible motives, Helton said.

Helton said investigators did not know how long the car may have been parked there or how long the victim had been dead.

Ruth Cousins, the missing man’s wife, was in seclusion. She had reported her husband missing Friday morning, after he did not return home Thursday night. She also hired a private investigator to try to find her husband, who she had said “always keeps his business appointments and always comes home.”

Arnold Goldman, a friend of Cousins who lives in the San Fernando Valley, said: “We’re extremely sad. You hear about crime all the time, but when it hits close, it really hurts.”

Cousins, who worked for Preferred Real Estate Management, was last seen Thursday about 12:15 p.m. inspecting an apartment complex at 1330 Bush St. in Santa Ana. His wife said he collected rent and sometimes handled cash.

His car was found in a parking lot surrounded by single-story warehouses that fill up a city block.

The owner of one of the warehouses called police shortly before 10 a.m. Monday to report an unfamiliar car that had been parked next to the business for several days. When police ran a check on the license plate, they found that the car had been reported missing in Garden Grove.

Garden Grove police investigators, who had a key to Cousins’ car, then opened the trunk and found the body.

Workers said the industrial area is plagued by shootings. One man who runs a nearby warehouse said he has collected ammunition shells found around his business.

“This is the kind of place you don’t want to be after the sun goes down,” the man said, declining to give his name for fear of retribution.

Lenesse Rasmussen, 26, who works just around the corner, said that gunfire is not uncommon.

“We call it ‘Shooter’s Alley’ around here because we get all those drive-bys and weirdos,” she said. “Whenever we hear anything that sounds loud, like gunfire, we hit the floor.”

Helton said that many of the warehouses are closed over the weekend, perhaps explaining why no one reported the abandoned car until Monday.

The grim discovery came just two weeks after Cal State Fullerton honor student Cathy Torrez was found stabbed to death in the trunk of her car Feb. 19. Helton said police do not believe the two cases are connected.

Family and friends of Cousins had spent Sunday posting about 2,000 flyers in Santa Ana, Anaheim and Garden Grove asking for any information on his whereabouts.

Nancy Schaaf, Cousins’ boss at Preferred Real Estate Management, had called the Northridge native “dependable” and “one of the hardest workers we have.”

Times staff writer E.J. Gong Jr. contributed to this report.