Sheriff's detectives were investigating whether the decomposing body of young woman found just off an Interstate 5 onramp on Monday belongs to a Valencia High School student who went missing two weeks ago, officials said.

Detectives spent hours Monday examining the site where a young woman's body was discovered just after 1 p.m. off a transition road from eastbound Highway 126 to Interstate 5.

Authorities said the body matches the description to Brigett Andrea Kennemore, an 18-year-old developmentally disabled Newhall resident who has been missing since Oct. 26. She was last seen getting off of a bus in Castaic.

"There's a possibility it could be the missing person," said Los Angeles County sheriff's Lt. Daniel Rosenberg. "However, we have not made a positive identification."

"The homicide investigators were gathering evidence and working with the coroner's investigators attempting to identify who this young lady is, along with the circumstances surrounding the death."

Rosenberg said the death did not appear to be violent in nature.

Kennemore's aunt, who had legal guardianship over Kennemore until she became an adult in mid-October, said the family is worried about the possible link.

"We're just all right now in a state of shock," said Debra Love. "Hopefully, it's not her."

A gardener found the body in bushes Monday in an embankment on the transition road.

The body was found about 200 yards north of the Newhall CHP office building near a strip mall and next to a Caltrans yard, Miler said.

The transition road and a Henry Mayo Drive onramp were closed for several hours while detectives inspected the scene, he added.