LINDEN, Calif. -- Authorities have identified the body of a man buried in a shallow grave at a San Joaquin County vineyard as a Sacramento attorney who has been missing for months.

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Laurence McNabney, 53, disappeared last September, and his children suspected foul play. Their fears were confirmed Thursday by the county coroner's office. Because of weather conditions, officials weren't sure how long the body had been at the site.

"The first look at it, it looked like anywhere from five to six weeks. It may have been there longer because the ground has been cold since September. And it's out in a rural area," San Joaquin County Sheriff Baxter Dunn said.

His body was found Tuesday by migrant farm workers in a remote area of a vineyard near Linden.

Friends at a horse show last saw McNabney Sept. 10 in Los Angeles County. He was reported missing Nov. 30.

Detectives had been trying to reach McNabney's wife, Elisa (pictured, below), since his disappearance. Witnesses said that she claims to have seen her husband as recently as Jan. 11.

Officials said that Elisa, 35, is now the prime suspect in the case. Detectives said that financial records showed that she liquidated her husband's assets after his disappearance.

Detectives said that she has since moved to Arizona, and that they are looking for her. They said that she also goes by the name Elisa Jordan and may be driving a red 2001 convertible Jaguar.

KCRA-TV talked with McNabney's son Thursday. He said that he and his sister are shocked by the news. He said that they want their stepmother found, and that they believe she might have played a part in their father's death.

Because of the ongoing investigation, the cause of death has not been released.