HOUSTON (AP) - Authorities say an 18-year-old man has been booked on a murder charge after the body of his girlfriend's mother was found inside a suitcase in some woods in northeast Harris County.

The Harris County Sheriff's Office said the body of 55-year-old Maria Rodriguez was found Sunday morning.

The Houston Chronicle reported a man driving along a secluded private road discovered the body in a black suitcase in the woods.

Investigators later discovered Rodriguez had been reported missing by her husband Friday.

Gerson Funes-Reina was being held in the county jail Tuesday morning. No information was immediately available on whether he had an attorney.

Authorities said the victim's daughter said she helped her boyfriend put the body in a suitcase and then dispose of it. No charges had been filed against the 17-year-old by early Tuesday.

The cause of death was not immediately available.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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