Placentia Woman’s Body Found in Car Trunk : Crime: Mary Ann O’Neil, 53, was last seen alive Wednesday night having dinner with a co-worker. Police do not know the motive for the killing.

When Mary Ann O’Neil didn’t show up Thursday at the photo studio where she worked, co-workers of the ever-reliable production manager immediately knew something was very wrong.

Early Friday morning, after a day of searching and fretting, their worst fears were confirmed when the 53-year-old woman’s body was found stuffed in the trunk of her car.

Police say they don’t know who would want to kill the Placentia woman and spent Friday interviewing her family, friends and co-workers.

In a grim coincidence, O’Neil’s body was found in a restaurant parking lot across the street from a drugstore where Cathy Torrez of Placentia was last seen two years ago. Torrez’s body also was found in the trunk of her car. Police do not believe the crimes are connected.

O’Neil was last seen alive Wednesday night at the Cornerstone Grill in Brea, where she and co-worker Gil Phillips had gone for dinner.

“We had pizza and a few drinks and played a trivia game,” Phillips said tearfully in the lobby of the Police Department. “The last thing she said to me was, ‘See you in the morning.’ ”

The pair had been riding to work together for about a month. Phillips, 28, said O’Neil offered to pick him up on her way to work after she learned he didn’t have a car.

“She was the best. Sweeter than anyone,” Phillips said. “She’d do anything for you.”

Although police released no details, Phillips said he is certain O’Neil made it home after dropping him off at his apartment around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday.

“Somebody took her to that parking lot,” Phillips said. “I know she made it home because the pizza she didn’t finish was in her refrigerator.”

Phillips did not say how he knew about the pizza but he made the statement after spending several hours at the police station, where he was questioned by detectives.

Police Department spokeswoman Corinne Loomis would not comment on how O’Neil was killed or any specifics of the case.

“We don’t have a known suspect,” she said. “We are interviewing everyone, trying to develop leads.”

It was Phillips who first noticed that something was amiss Thursday when O’Neil failed to pick him up for work. They normally started work at 8:30 a.m. at South Coast Photographic in Anaheim.

Dennis Proud, a partner at the studio, said he and a co-worker drove to O’Neil’s house at 8:45 a.m. to check on her and found no one there. They then contacted the woman’s daughters, who filed a missing person report.

“She was very dependable and it wasn’t like her not to show up on time,” Proud said. “We were so worried because this was not like her in any way.

“She didn’t run around at bars and didn’t even go to the grocery store by herself,” he said. “This is a person who was very responsible and safety-conscious.”

O’Neil’s 1992 white Infiniti was found at 2 a.m. Friday in the El Torito parking lot at Kraemer and Yorba Linda boulevards by a Placentia police officer, Loomis said.

Employees at a nearby cleaner’s said the car was parked there all day Thursday.

Residents in O’Neil’s neighborhood--a short distance from where her body was found--expressed disbelief.

“It’s just shocking,” said Claudio Longhi, who lives across the street from O’Neil. “This is a great neighborhood and the police station is just right around the corner.”

Neighbor Paige Snead said: “This is awful. It’s really very sad.”

Neighbors and co-workers said O’Neil was living in the house alone but had a male roommate until about a month ago. Loomis said police believe the relationship was platonic.

Steven M. DeVaughn, boyfriend of O’Neil’s younger daughter, briefly discussed the ordeal as he sat in the lobby of the Placentia police station. He and family members brought the car keys to the police once O’Neil’s car was found and were present when her body was discovered.

“It’s been a nightmare,” DeVaughn said. “She was a wonderful woman and her daughters were her best friends. We’re all so blown away.”

O’Neil had been a widow since 1982, an acquaintance said, and was very close to her two daughters, ages 32 and 33. She also has two grandchildren.

Proud, who had known O’Neil for 20 years, said she was planning to travel to Paris next week with one of her daughters. It was to be her first trip abroad.

“She had just gotten her passport and was very excited,” Proud said. “We are all very sad. She cared so much about the people she worked with and we cared about her.”