Missing wife Eleni Kassa was found dead in the trunk of a car after a police chase

A missing Tennessee woman has been found dead in the trunk of a car driven by her friend – who killed herself after exchanging gunfire with police officers in suburban Detroit.

Eleni Kassa, 31, of Murfreesboro, was reported missing by her family on Nov. 18 after she failed to pick up her daughter from school, police in the city of Tennessee said in a statement.

An investigation “revealed a possible incident of domestic violence involving Kassa and her friend Dominique Hardwick, 36, following an argument at Kassa’s Murfreesboro home,” police officers said.

The two women drove away in Hardwick’s Dodge Charger while police began a full search of Kassa.

The Dodge was later spotted by police in Ohio and Michigan with license plate readers that allowed authorities to track the vehicle as far north as Michigan’s Oakland County, just outside Detroit.

On Sunday afternoon, Dearborn Police tried to stop the car, which crashed into a house.

“As officers approached the crash site, gunfire exchanged between the officers and the suspect,” Dearborn Police said, adding that autopsy results indicated Hardwick died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to CBS News.

Police said investigators are still interviewing witnesses, including an injured 34-year-old woman who was a front passenger in the Dodge.

The circumstances of Kassa’s death are not yet clear.

Meanwhile, it was reported that a pattern of domestic violence had emerged between Kassa and Hardwick, including an incident when police officers were called to their home three months ago.

Hardwick told officers she pushed Kassa and slapped her in the face during an argument over a text message from another woman, Fox 2 Detroit reported.

Kassa said she had difficulty breathing after being grabbed by the neck by Hardwick, who was charged with aggravated domestic assault, according to the news outlet.

Law enforcement sources told the station the women had ties to Metro Detroit.

Ericka Downing, of the Murfreesboro Center for Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, said she sees cases like Kassa’s all too often.

“Heartbroken, sad — and it’s so hard to see and see someone lose their life, but especially in a domestic violence situation,” she told WTVF. “We pray for the family. I pray for their peace as they go through this tragic loss.”

She said she hopes the tragic case will “put the spotlight and raise awareness that domestic violence exists,” adding that there are “authorities across the state of Tennessee that are here to help.”