A body was found in a car late Sept. 26 connected to missing Iowa State international student Tong Shao.

Shao, junior in chemical engineering, was last heard from on Sept. 8 when she was in Iowa City visiting a friend before she was expected to travel to Minnesota for the weekend.

On Sept. 26, Ames Police said Tong had access to a Toyota Camry that was still believed to be in the Iowa City area.

Later that evening, the car was located in Iowa City parked near apartment complex 44 of Dolphin Lake Point Enclave in Iowa City after an odor was reported coming from the car. Upon searching the car, Iowa City Police discovered a body in the trunk of the vehicle. 

Marcus Nashelsky, Johnson County medical examiner, began an autopsy early Sept. 27 on the body. Official results will not be released for four to six weeks due to processing the information, said Medical Examiner Investigator Clayton Schuneman. 

In a press release, the Iowa City Police Department said the death is being investigated as a homicide.

The Iowa City Police Department said Shao’s boyfriend is now the main person of interest in the case.

Geoff Huff, investigations commander for the Ames Police Department, confirmed that a text message was sent to Shao’s roommates in Ames on Sept. 8 from Shao’s boyfriend’s phone. The message said that Shao was using from his phone in Iowa City and her phone was broken. That was the last contact anyone had with Shao. 

Iowa City Police said they have reason to believe Shao’s boyfriend is now in China. They are working on making contact with him.