Jholie Moussa left her home after exchanging mysterious text messages with someone, her twin sister said.
Her family reported her missing the next day.
The FBI joined the investigation 4 days later, on Jan. 17.
The day that Moussa disappeared, she seemed to be distracted after classes at Mount Vernon High School, her twin, Zhane Moussa, said.
“She was doing my hair and then she stopped, for a good minute, to text some more. Then, out of nowhere, she was like, ‘I gotta go, I gotta go!'” she said.
Moussa told her sister that she just needed to go out for a minute.
After she left, Zhane Moussa sent her a concerned text and got an odd response.
“She texted me that she was going to Norfolk,” Zhane Moussa said. “And I’m, like, isn’t that more than 3 hours away?”
Later that night, the girls’ mother, Syreeta Steward, missed a call from her daughter. Then, she heard nothing. It just wasn’t like her.
“Normally, she would have responded back to me. If she calls me and I don’t answer, she always follows it up with a text,” Steward said.
They never heard from her again.
The body that police believe is Moussa’s, was found 14 days later in a wooded area of Woodlawn Park, less than a mile from where she was last seen in the 4200 block of Sonia Court.
A Police officer found the body, almost entirely covered by leaves, about 11 a.m. Friday.
The preliminary identification of Moussa’s body was based on her appearance, including a tattoo, police confirmed. On her right shoulder, she had a tattoo of an infinity loop with her name and her twin’s name.
However, a medical examiner will positively identify the body. Moussa’s family has been notified.
Fairfax County police had entered Moussa into the National Crime Information Center database as a runaway juvenile.
“Based on the facts of the case, there is nothing that indicates that Moussa is in any danger,” county police previously said in a statement.
An FBI representative previously noted there was not a specific reason why the agency joined the investigation; they had available resources to help.
Police previously said that detectives spoke to about 20 people who had recent contact with Moussa. Many of her friends were not fully cooperating with investigators, police said.
Anyone with information on the case was asked to call Fairfax County police at 703-691-2131, or the FBI at 202-278-2000.