Police search for Tulare County man suspected of killing girlfriend

EL CENTRO, Calif. (KYMA, KSWT, KECY T3) - The manhunt continues for the boyfriend suspected of killing his estranged girlfriend and mother of his children, 36-year-old Brittney Steenbergen.

Her body was found in El Centro, over three hundred miles from where she was reported missing in Tulare County.

It was a California Highway Patrol Officer on duty that found her body near the intersection of Bowker Rd. and Interstate Eight.

Steenbergen was reported missing with the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office on December 31st by one of her four children.

On new year's day, Steenbergen's body was discovered on the side of Bowker road in El Centro.

“We also learned that she was potentially involved in a domestic violence incident a couple of days prior, where she was the victim," said Lt. Jimmy Duran with the Imperial County Sheriff's Office.

Steenburgen's disappearance quickly turned into a homicide investigation.

“The potential suspect, in this case, is Adel Hussein, a 44-year-old out of Tulare County. We are assisting Tulare County. We processed some pieces of evidence down here and we will be turning over the evidence to Tulare County," said Duran.

According to the Tulare County Sheriff's Office, the family's vehicle, a dark blue Toyota RAV4 was found abandoned in El Centro.

“We’ve seen it in the past, where people or descendants are dumped in our county. We are sparsely populated and we have a large desert area. These are cases we’ve seen in the past," said Duran.

The Imperial County Coroner's Office is still awaiting autopsy results.

Anyone with information that can help investigators find the suspect is encouraged to contact the ICSO.