Police: Timeline in Shao disappearance, death taking shape

IOWA CITY - Almost four weeks after her friends last heard from her and a week after her body was found in the back of a car, police do not know where Tong Shao died or exactly when she perished.

But, Iowa City Police Lt. Mike Brotherton said Friday investigators have been able to create a timeline leading up to when the 20-year-old Chinese Iowa State University student was last seen alive. The same holds true for her boyfriend and person of interest in the case, 23-year-old University of Iowa student Xiangnan Li, who is believed to have returned to China.

'We've been able to trace the whereabouts of where she was … in the time frame from (Iowa City) to Ames,” Brotherton said. 'We're pretty sure we can account for her whereabouts up until she was last seen alive.”

That timeline should prove valuable for investigators as they use it, along with scientific methods related to Shao's autopsy, to narrow in on when she died. And, if police know when she died, they can cross-reference that information with the timeline they've developed and hopefully get a better sense of where she died.

Brotherton said he couldn't share exactly what investigators have been able to determine while putting together the time frame of Shao's final hours, but they have used that information to check places she visited for valuable evidence.

'What we're trying to do is put together a prosecutable case and define who is responsible for her death and eliminate any questions any defense attorneys might be able to come up with,” he said. 'That's what the whole case is about: who did it and how we can we prove it beyond a reasonable doubt? We have to eliminate all issues.”

Will a lack of crime scene or an inability to preserve that scene be an issue? Brotherton isn't sure just yet.

'Obviously, it'd be good if we had a witness and a weapon,” he said. 'But there's other things we're able to have. It's just a matter of connecting the dots and putting the pieces together.”

Shao's body was found in the trunk of a Toyota Camry believed to belong to her parked at the Dolphin Lake Point Enclave on Sept. 26. Li, who Brotherton described as Shao's boyfriend, resided at Dolphin Lake Point Enclave before returning to China, which led police to search there.

Shao was reported missing to the Ames Police Department on Sept. 17, but her friends said they last heard from her on Sept. 8 when she texted them to say she was in Iowa City visiting a friend. She was thought to be heading to Minnesota after her Iowa City visit, which is why her friends did not report her missing for another nine days.

While police do not yet know exactly when Shao died, Brotherton referred to Sept. 6 and 7 as the 'critical time” in the investigation. The Johnson County Medical Examiner's Office still is working to determine her time of death, a process that could still take several more weeks.

Li is believed to still be in China, but Brotherton said police here don't know exactly where he is. For now, they're not worrying about tracking him down until they have more questions to ask.

'I suspect if we had him and were able to get a confession or whatever knowledge he has, certainly that would be helpful to the investigation,” Brotherton said.

Brotherton said he believes Chinese authorities are waiting to locate Li until they hear from the police department.

'We're not ready to do that, yet,” he said. 'I would say, at this point, there's a little bit of work yet to be done, but we're getting closer … We're getting closer to establishing the complete timeline.”