After Gay DC Lawyer Found Dead, Mother Looks for Answers

The mother of an openly gay lawyer who was mysteriously found dead in Washington, D.C. with no signs of injury Saturday morning is looking for answers.

The body of Daniel Potucek, a 34-year-old lawyer for the Transportation Security Administration, was found in a stranger's car in D.C.'s Shaw neighborhood, Fox 5 reports. Though police are calling the incident a death investigation, Potucek's mother Lorinda Potucek says things don't make sense.

Speaking with the news station, Lorinda pointed to surveillance footage from a restaurant that captured what could be her son's last living moments.

"Then he was in that car from the time of closing until they found him at 7 or 7:20 [a.m.]," she explained.

Around 7:30 a.m., police found Daniel in the passenger's seat of a Mazda SUV, which belongs to a man from Northwest D.C. who said he has never met Daniel.

The car owner told Fox 5 he parked his SUV last Friday night a block away from where Daniel's body was discovered. After going to dinner, he deiced to take a Lyft home and planned to retrieve his car the next morning while going for a jog.

NBC Washington identified the man as Alexander MacLennan, who spoke with the news station, confirming that after he had a few drinks with a partner, he decided to use the car service to get home.

When he returned to the scene and saw that his car was gone, he said he "just assumed [the car] was stolen and having seen the police there earlier in the day, I just thought maybe... I don't know... something got smashed."

MacLennan said he called police to report his vehicle stolen - that's when a detective explained the situation.

"It's kind of a little creepy to know someone died in the front seat," he told NBC Washington. "They haven't told us a lot, but I guess I'll see it when I get it back."

Lorinda, however, wants to know why her son would be in a random car.

"As of this point, we are told that there were no personal items on him when they found him in the car," she told Fox 5. "Anyone who saw Daniel at any of the clubs, bars or restaurants at any time, we are just hoping that somebody gives us as much information so that we can retrace his steps that night."

Speaking with NBC Washington, Lorinda said her son's wallet, debit card, house keys and phone were gone and that he had no identification.

"I've been told that somebody put him in that car," she said, adding that she was told the car door was unlocked. "We all think, with beyond a reasonable doubt, that there's more to this story. Daniel always has made it home."

Lorinda said Daniel graduated from Georgetown Preparatory School in Maryland and earned degrees from Duke University and Harvard University. He was recently hired as an attorney for the TSA, she said. She added her son spoke seven languages and often went to bars in the neighbored where his body was found.

Though the local news stations did not identify Daniel as gay, the Washington Blade did in its report, noting that D.C. authorities have reached out to the department's LGBT Liaison Unit for assistance in the case. The newspaper also points to social media posts where Daniel said he was gay and that he frequented four gay clubs located within two blocks of where his body was discovered.

Watch Fox 5 and NBC Washington's reports below.