A former “American Idol” contestant known to have been an obsessed fan of Paula Abdul was found dead Tuesday night in a car near Abdul's Los Angeles house. Authorities identified the woman as Paula Goodspeed, 30, from Thousand Oaks. The woman once tried to become a contestant on "American Idol," auditioning for Season 5 of the hit show in 2006. However Paula Goodspeed’s performance of "Proud Mary" was panned and mocked by the judges.

Police spokeswoman Julianne Sohn says officers responded to a call about 6 p.m. Tuesday and arrived in the Sherman Oaks area to find the body. Public records show Abdul owns a home near the site where the body was found. Goodspeed's family members in Thousand Oaks, Calif., reported the woman missing Tuesday around 3 p.m., said Capt. Ross Bonfiglio of the Ventura County Sheriff's Dept. He also added that the woman had a history of mental illness.

Despite the fact that Goodspeed had no prior arrests, her family did ask the LAPD and L.A. County Sheriff's Dept. to locate her after she went missing back in January. Bonfiglio said the family was concerned at the time that she might try to harm herself.
As for the woman’s cause of death, authorities said it initially appeared that she either overdosed on drugs, or committed suicide. Abdul was out filming "American Idol" when the body was discovered and didn't return home until the scene had been cleared

Jeff Ballard, a representative for Abdul, told celebrity television show Entertainment Tonight that Abdul was "shocked and saddened" by the woman's death. Ballard said that Abdul and her staff have known about the woman for several years. The car, parked a few doors down from Abdul's house, featured a license plate "ABL LV" and had a photo of Abdul hanging from the rear view mirror. A DMV check of the license showed that the car did belong to the woman.

A neighbor of Paula Abdul told TMZ that she saw the car belonging to the deceased obsessed fan of Paula Abdul several times over the last few weeks. The woman says she generally saw the car in the early mornings, and the woman inside. She was initially thought to be a paparazzo.

Abdul has sold over 53 million records to date. She has scored six number one singles on the “Billboard Hot 100,” placing her in a tie for fifth among the female solo performers who have reached Number 1 there. After her initial period of success, she suffered a series of setbacks in her professional and personal life, until she found renewed fame and success in the 2000s as a judge on the television series, “American Idol.” Abdul was most recently featured in the seventh season of American Idol. She has also been featured as a guest judge in the audition stages on the UK talent show “The X Factor.”