Body at Marina Identified as Missing Woman

Coroner’s officials Saturday identified a body found at Marina del Rey as that of a 28-year-old Mar Vista woman who had been missing for a week.

The decomposed body of Tina Nakamura, which was pulled from the water at the marina Friday, had been held underwater by an outboard motor lashed to a wrist, authorities said.

A 21-year-old resident of the marina who was a friend of Nakamura remained in custody in connection with the killing, police said. The man, Taelee Howard, owed Nakamura money and was the last person to have seen her alive, police said.

“The body was found adjacent to a boat belonging to the suspect,” said Los Angeles police spokesman Don Cox.

An autopsy was scheduled to be performed on Nakamura today or Monday.

Nakamura was last seen July 6. She had planned to go to a restaurant near the marina for dinner. She was to meet with a man from whom she was to collect a debt, police said. Her car was discovered near the restaurant a few days later.

Relatives and friends had organized a much-publicized search for Nakamura and put up posters around the area where she had vanished. Nakamura had worked for three months as a management trainee at a retail store.