DAPHNE, Ala.—A member of a search team looking for a 21-year-old woman who had been reported missing since Wednesday found her body in a ditch near Daphne Utilities' water treatment plant, police Chief David Carpenter said.

Police identified Brianna Parish's body by tattoos and physical characteristics, according to Carpenter, who said forensic specialists today will have confrimed her ID by fingerprints.

No one has been detained in connection with the incident, which the police chief said is being treated as a homicide; however, authorities have confirmed there are people of interest and the investigation is ongoing.

There is no obvious cause of death, Carpenter said, and though the media have heard murmurs that Parish was raped, the police chief said he is unaware if it's true.

A member of a search team organized by Parish's family had discovered the body, according to police.

Police Capt. Scott Taylor said law enforcement officials received a 4:20 p.m. call alerting them of the body.

The Daphne PD, a coroner and an FBI team, among others, were at the scene Friday evening, investigating clues and evidence.

James White, someone close to Parish, said at the scene he was stunned to hear the news.

"I got a call saying that they (found) the body and … I can't believe it," he said. "You hear that this stuff happens every day, but not to your friends."

White, who said he hadn't talked to Parish in months, suspected no one specifically, but he pointed out the proximity of the crime scene to Bay Breeze Apartments, a complex located beyond a small wooded area close to the sewage plant.

"My guess is it's somebody that lives in the apartments," he said.

Still, authorities named no suspects.

A friend had last seen Parish, a Daphne High School graduate, at  1 a.m. Wednesday at Bay House Pub, a bar on Bay Line Drive, police said.

"The Bay House Pub is safe—Daphne's safe…," Carpenter said.

Still, White said, "It's a peaceful little town, and a stuff like that's not meant to happen."

Anyone with information on the case is asked to call the police department, 621-9100.