Police combing central New Jersey for a woman abducted by a man who forced his way into her vehicle at a traffic light found her nude body Saturday in a waterlogged ditch, authorities said.
Police discovered the body early Saturday in a drainage ditch in a marshy area behind a lumber company in Piscataway. Piscataway Police Chief Pat LaRocca later confirmed the body was that of Gail Shollar, 35, who had been the subject of a four-day manhunt.Shollar had suffered multiple stab wounds, and her body was nude, police said. An autopsy was being conducted to determine the exact cause of death and whether she had been sexually assaulted.
Police were searching for the kidnapper and trying to determine whether there are any links between Shollar's abduction and attempted "carjackings" involving two other female motorists.
A spokesman for the Middlesex County prosecutor's office said the area where Shollar was found had been searched earlier. Police dogs at first failed to pick up the scent because heavy rains had submerged the body.
Shollar, a Piscataway resident, was kidnapped at approximately 9:30 p.m. Tuesday by a man who forced his way into her minivan.
Police began combing wooded areas around Piscataway and Edison Wednesday morning, when Shollar's 3 1/2-year-old daughter, Andrea, was found by workers at the First Class Day Care Center in Piscataway.
The child - cold, wet but otherwise unharmed - was dropped at the center the previous evening by her mother's abductor. The tot told investigators she and her mother were out doing errands when a man jumped into their minivan, which was stopped at a traffic light. The youngster was able to give investigators a vague description of the abductor.
The blue van was found not far from the day-care center.