Authorities investigating mysterious homicide of Va. woman found in driveway

Authorities are investigating the death of a young woman who was found inside a vehicle at the end of a driveway of a home in Spotsylvania County.

On Monday morning, the people living in the house called authorities about a mysterious car parked at the bottom of their driveway. When police arrived, they found 21-year-old Heather Ciccone dead inside the car.

The medical examiner has ruled her death a homicide.

Police said Ciccone was killed by a gunshot wound to the upper body and she was in the driver's seat of her own car.

However, police said the victim has no connection to the house here.

"The medical examiner showed the time of death as probably right there when she was in the vehicle," said Spotsylvania County Sheriff's Capt. Jeff Pearce. "So it happened shortly before the resident saw the vehicle out there in the driveway."

Ciccone was a waitress at a Red Robin restaurant in the area. Her co-workers said the police told them not to talk to reporters about the ongoing investigation. But they told us Ciccone was a sweet girl and everyone loved her.

Her family believes a female stalker is to blame.

"We are aware of the threats," said Capt. Pearce. "We are aware of the activities that were going on before and during that day. The detectives are following those leads. They are following several other leads, including the evidentiary leads that we found at the scene."

Murders are rare in this rural Virginia county. The police want to find Ciccone's murderer quickly.

Authorities don't know why she was killed at the end of this driveway. It is nowhere near her home or her workplace. But they are following every lead in this case.