--The body of a dead woman was found in a car in Malden. Police are treating the case as a homicide but have not yet disclosed many details about what might have happened. The family of a woman who has been missing since February 13, the owner of a Malden hair salon, say they are "99 percent sure" it is her. [Boston Globe, WBZ]

--A Westfield 14-year-old has miraculously emerged from a long coma and is now cooperating with authorities against her stepdad, who is alleged to have beaten her almost to the point of death in 2005. The defense questions whether she is capable of being a witness due to the trauma she endured. [Boston Herald]

--A Beverly man has agreed to a plea that would have him serve 12 years in federal prison for attempting to pay a gang member $2,000 to kill his wife, mother-in-law, and daughter. His wife was in the process of divorcing him. The plea bargain still needs to be approved by a U.S. District Court judge. [Boston Herald]

--A cabbie was arrested in the South End after driving the wrong way on a one-way street and refusing to present his license to a police officer, even after he was asked four times. (There's not a lot to this story, but we wanted to include one blotter item that didn't include someone being killed or almost killed.) [BPD News]

All charges alleged until proven under law.