City worker finds body of 32-year-old Tampa woman

TAMPA — A city of Tampa employee discovered the body of a 32-year-old woman who apparently had suffered upper body trauma, police said.

The body of Monica Caridad Hoffa was found before 9 a.m. Friday on city land near the corner of East New Orleans Avenue and North 11th Street Friday, police said.

"I spoke to her eight months ago," said Hoffa's stepmother, Dawn Hoffa, who was contacted in South Carolina. "She seemed to be having problems, and I told her she could come move in with us. This is so awful."

No cause of death was immediately available for Hoffa, whose last known address was 13011 Pittsfield Ave in Tampa. An investigation is continuing.

Mary Coram, 62, who lives a few houses away from where the body was found, said she heard five shots just before 9 p.m. Wednesday and wondered whether they're connected to the death.

"It's very concerning to me," said Coram, who's lived on the street since 1993. "This neighborhood is on the come up. Stuff like this makes me ask, What the hell is going on?'"

Janice Thornton, 60, who lives a block away, said she finds the discovery deeply troubling.

"I'm not scared, but it's really sad," said, Thornton, who's lived there for 10 years. "We've had car break ins and small stuff like that."