May 26, 2021- 5:35 p.m.
A woman who was found dead in a parked car on a Lakeview side street Tuesday evening died from multiple gunshot wounds, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
The woman, identified as 41-year-old Kendra Gardner, was the subject of a CPD missing person bulletin that Area South detectives released Tuesday morning. Gardner was last seen Saturday near 105th and Yates Avenue in the South Deering neighborhood, the missing person flyer said.
Police found Gardner’s body after a passerby reported seeing an unresponsive person inside a gold Cadillac on the 3000 block of North Clifton around 4 p.m. Tuesday, according to a CPD report. Gardner was reclined in the passenger seat of the vehicle, which is registered to a man who lists an address in the South Shore neighborhood, according to information from the scene.
A witness at the scene said he saw police remove a firearm from the vehicle’s trunk when they opened it around 8:30 p.m Tuesday. Police would not confirm that they found a gun. The same witness on Tuesday night said investigators also recovered at least one shell casing at the scene.
During an initial press statement, CPD said the woman appeared to have “some injury to her neck area,” but police did not mention that she had been shot. Area Three detectives are now conducting a homicide investigation.
