CHICAGO | A badly decomposed body found behind several vacant businesses in Calumet City this week is that of an Eli Lilly Co. sales representative reported missing nine days ago, authorities said Friday.

Dental records were used to identify the body of Nailah Franklin, 28, who was reported missing Sept. 19 after she didn't show up for a work meeting, Chicago police spokeswoman Monique Bond said. The cause of death was inconclusive, Bond said.

The woman's body was discovered Thursday not far from where her car was found in Hammond, Ind., last week.

Telephone messages left Friday with family members were not immediately returned.

Bond said investigators have not determined where the woman died, and department investigators are working with the FBI and the Calumet City Police Department. She said the case is being characterized as a death investigation, not a homicide investigation, because the cause of death had not yet been determined.

Franklin, a sales representative for Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly, had recently filed a police report about threatening phone calls she received from a man she dated briefly. Chicago police have said they've interviewed someone Franklin dated, but have not named a suspect in her disappearance.

Her disappearance triggered a frantic search. Family members and volunteers papered the city with fliers, took out a newspaper ad seeking the public's help and launched a Web site. The family also offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to her whereabouts.