A body found in Vacaville last week has been identified as missing Oakland criminal defense investigator Sandra Coke. The 50-year-old criminal defense investigator was last seen on August 4 along with a paroled, violent sex offender named Randy Alana with whom she was romantically involved nearly two decades ago.

In a press conference Tuesday, a spokeswoman for Oakland Police Department explained that 56-year-old Alana was booked into jail on August 6th for an unspecified parole violation. He is currently a "person of interest" in the Coke case, but has not been booked on any charges at this point.

Randy Alana has multiple convictions for voluntary manslaughter, kidnapping with intent to commit a sex offense, rape, forcible oral copulation, and rape in concert with force or violence. The Chronicle reports he had been in violation of his sex-offender registration requirements since Jun of this year.

Coke worked at the federal public defender's office in Sacramento since 2009. She was last seen by her daughter when she told her that she was running to a drugstore. She never returned.

Coke's Mini Cooper was filmed by traffic cameras crossing the Carquinez Bridge after her disappearance. Alana was later spotted on surveillance cameras filling up the vehicle at a North Oakland gas station. The car was found on Monday abandoned in West Oakland, while her work phone turned up on the street near the Oakland-Emeryville border on Sunday. Her personal cell phone was tracked throughout the East and North Bay, including Vacaville, before it was found on the side of Interstate 80 in Richmond.

[Chron]