Woman found decomposing in Encinitas was killed, sheriff’s department says

A decomposing body discovered Tuesday evening, Oct. 8, in Encinitas was that of a 43-year-old woman who died by homicide and whose mother reported her missing last week, a sheriff’s lieutenant said Wednesday, Oct. 9.

Deputies discovered the body of Sabrina Lukosky around 5:15 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 8, in small living quarters behind a home on Summit Avenue near Santa Fe Drive, San Diego sheriff’s homicide Lt. Michael Blevins said.

Lukosky’s mother had reported her missing to the Sheriff’s Department on Oct. 3.

Deputies responded Tuesday to the home on Summit Avenue after a neighbor reported a foul odor, Blevins said. When deputies arrived, they also noticed the stench, prompting them to obtain a search warrant for the home and the living quarters where they eventually found Lukosky.

Investigators were not initially sure how Lukosky died because of the condition of her body.

“The San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office has conducted an autopsy and determined the victim’s manner of death as a homicide,” Blevins said in a statement Wednesday, Oct. 9.

In an email Wednesday night, the lieutenant wrote that “no one has been identified as a suspect at this time and no one is in custody.”

Anyone with information about Lukosky’s death was urged to call the sheriff’s homicide unit at (858) 285-6330, or after hours at (858) 565-5200. Tipsters can also call San Diego County Crime Stoppers’ anonymous tip line at (888) 580-8477.

-- Alex Riggins is a reporter for The San Diego Union-Tribune