Body of missing woman found in crawl space of Malibu home

A woman who went missing more than a week ago was found dead Wednesday in the crawl space of her parents’ Malibu home, authorities said.

The body was confirmed to be that of 53-year-old Julia Christine Snyder, who was last seen near the home on the night of Feb. 8, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement.

The cause of her death was under investigation, but foul play wasn’t suspected, authorities said.

Snyder, who had bipolar disorder and lived with her parents, went missing without her medications, the Sheriff’s Department said. The department’s search and rescue team, aided by drones and K-9 units, began searching the hillside area on Saturday after relatives reported that they hadn’t heard from Snyder for days.

The home also had been searched. But investigators returned there on Wednesday afternoon. They said Snyder may have been in the crawl space since the day she vanished.