The six-week-long search for a missing pediatrician concluded tragically, as divers discovered her body inside her car, in the Oakland estuary bay. Dr. Zehra Attari was last seen driving from her Oakland office to a meeting in the city of Alameda on Nov. 7.

Searchers were stymied until they received a late-arriving tip that someone had seen someone matching her description looking lost near the edge of the water in Alameda. The tipster said she had almost been hit on the road coming back from Trader Joe's by a woman who looked like she was trying to read building addresses from her car. It was dark and rainy that night and they think Dr. Attari may have accidentally driven off the Grand Street boat pier (pictured at right) in her confusion. There's a sign that says "END" and a flashing red light at the pier, but no barrier from the road.

Police investigators are looking into it, but report that one of the car's airbags had gone off, and the doctor's body was found in the back seat, leading them to speculate that she may have attempted to get out of the car before it sank. The grieving family has called for an investigation into why Alameda hadn't put up some kind of barrier, given that two men had died driving off of the ramp two years ago.

Picture of Alameda pier by Gary Reyes from the Merc News