P T Nithin, who hailed from Kerala, was last seen in a rented car with an unknown person whom the victim himself described as a friend, Gulf News reported.
The police have taken the body and the car into custody, the report said.
Nithin was a research assistant at a university office in Dubai.
A community worker told the newspaper that Nithin had obtained a driving licence recently and was not yet confident enough to drive alone.
His friends waited until Thursday morning and then lodged a report with the police.
On Saturday, employees of a warehouse informed the police about an abandoned car parked there. The police later found his body in the car, it said.