MOULTRIE — The mother of Dorothy Edith Hood, whose body was found Sunday in the trunk of a car in Thomasville, said her daughter “was a scared little girl.”

More than a week ago, the woman’s mother said, she tried to get Worth County authorities to treat the case as something more than a missing person.

“We just wanted to get our daughter home,” Mrs. William Hood said.

The Hoods reside at 746 Heard Road on the Colquitt County-Thomas County line.

Mrs. Hood said her daughter lived with Chad Griffin, a boyfriend of two years, in the Sumner area of Worth County.

Her mother said Dorothy, known as DeDe to her family and friends, was on medical leave from her job from June 11 to June 17.

The woman, 26, was to have returned to work Monday, June 18.

She had worked at Caterpillar in Thomasville for about two years. Hood assembled unit injectors for commercial engines.

She had not reported to work for two weeks, said John Tumblson, facility manager.

Tumblson said he was not aware of the plant receiving word that Hood would not be at work.