LOS ANGELES (AP) — Police found the body of an elderly woman in a vehicle that had been in an accident and taken to a tow yard the day before, authorities said. The woman's injured son had been pulled from the car the day of the crash.

The presence of the body of Shirley Lee Williams, 72, came to the attention of investigators Sunday after family members said two relatives were missing, not one.

"We conducted a follow-up to the tow yard, and we discovered the woman inside the vehicle," said police Officer Mike Lopez. "She was dead."

Doctors will investigate whether Williams died instantly or was alive when the car was towed away, an official said.

Police were trying to determine how paramedics and others had left the woman at the accident scene. The vehicle hit a parked car in a bank parking lot and then crashed into a building, authorities said.

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The man was taken to a hospital, but his name and condition were not made available.

The car was then towed about 7 miles to the impound yard, where it sat overnight. The woman was found beneath an air bag that had deployed during the crash, police said.

An autopsy found that Williams died of blunt force injuries, Lt. Fred Corral, a coroner's spokesman, said Monday.

"The doctors may have a conclusion after the autopsy if this person died instantly or not," coroner's spokesman Lt. John Kades said. "That's a possibility, but there's no way to tell or predict."