Medical examiner: Shao died of asphyxiation

IOWA CITY - Tong Shao, the missing Iowa State University student found dead in the trunk of her car in Iowa City last September, died of suffocation.

Mike Hensch, administrator for the Johnson County Medical Examiner's Office, shared details of the 20-year-old's death certificate on Friday. Hensch said Shao died of asphyxia, or oxygen deprivation, and the manner of her death was homicide.

'The description of the injury is homicidal violence resulting in asphyxia,” Hensch said.

Shao's body was found in the trunk of her Toyota Camry on Sept. 26. Hensch said the death certificate lists that date and 11:38 p.m. - the time the trunk was opened and body discovered - for Shoa's date and time of death. Hensch said medical examiners don't try to 'guess” the date and time of death when no one is around to confirm those details and will instead rely on the time the body is discovered.

'That is really common,” he said.

Shao was reported missing to the Ames Police Department on Sept. 17, nine days after her roommates last heard from her. The delay in reporting has been explained by a text message one roommate received on Sept. 8, indicating Shao was taking a bus to visit friends in Minnesota. However, a recently unsealed search warrant affidavit indicated that text message came from the phone of Xiangnan Li, Shao's boyfriend at the time.

Shao was visiting Li, a University of Iowa student, at the time the text message was received. The message indicated there had been an emergency in China, where both students were from, and Li had to take a flight back home. The message said Shao would have Li's phone, but it was low on battery, according to the affidavit. However, Li later made calls on that phone while on a layover in Chicago.

The affidavit states Li booked the Sept. 8 flight to China on Sept. 6.

Li has been named a person of interest in the case, but no arrests have been made. The search warrant affidavit states that Li's friends and family did not hear from him when he arrived back in China, something they said was unusual.

Earlier this week, the Iowa City Police Department said they did not have any new information on Li.

According to the affidavit, Ames Police spoke with one of Li's friends, Karen Yang. Yang told police that Li had called Shao 'unexpectedly” on Sept. 3, and he told Yang 'he was upset because of something that had just happened.”

Yang told police that Li called Shao and she answered without realizing it. Li then overheard Shao talking to another man. During their conversation, Shao allegedly complained to the other man about Li and 'said things about him that were not nice,” according to court documents.

Police also spoke with a Dolphin Lake Point Enclave employee. Li lived at the apartment complex, and that's where the car with Shao's body inside was discovered.

The employee told investigators that it appeared that Li 'left in a hurry,” according to the affidavit. Groceries were not put away, spoiled milk was on the counter and luggage was left behind, police said.

Warrants filed by the Iowa City Police Department in the case were unsealed this week. The warrants detail the dozen of items seized by police in the case, including belongings from Li's apartment and Shao's car, which police said had a 'distinct odor coming from the trunk … consistent with a decomposing body.”

Items taken from Li's apartment include clothing, a suitcase, receipts, a swimsuit top and three knives. According to the warrant, police found dozens of items in Shao's vehicle, including a phone, receipts, a purse, clothing, hair and personal effects.