A 20-year-old woman attending Bowdoin College in Maine was found deceased in a parking area near her school on Easter.
Qingyang Zhan of California was identified as the person whose remains were found near the Frank J Woods Bridge in Topsham on Sunday morning.
Cops arrived at the area at 2 Main Street just after 7am after receiving a report of a deceased person there.
Minutes later, arriving officers ‘confirmed the death of a female subject’, wrote the Topsham Police Department on Facebook.
Her body was taken to a medical examiner’s office for an autopsy and authorities are awaiting the results.
The woman was enrolled at Bowdoin College in Brunswick.
‘Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of the deceased as well as the Bowdoin College Community,’ stated Topsham police Chief Marc Hagan.
An investigation into the incident is ongoing ‘but there is currently no cause to believe that there is an active threat to the community’, said the police chief.
While the police department did not immediately identify the victim, Bowdoin College President Safa Zaki named her in a statement to the school community.
She was known as K and was born in Shanghai, China, and moved to the US in 2019, WMTW reported.
‘Faculty members describe K as a bright and engaging presence, and many will remember her warmth and kindness,’ stated Zaki.
‘K’s death is a devastating tragedy for her parents, her brother, other loved ones, and also for her friends, classmates, and our entire Bowdoin community.
‘This news is very difficult to process, especially since we do not yet know the circumstances of K’s death. Please take care of yourselves and of others and take advantage of the opportunities to come together.’
Zhan was ‘deeply interested in the most important theological and philosophical questions’, according to her academic adviser and social sciences professor, Jean Yarbrough.
The parking area where her body was found was being used to store equipment to build a replacement to the bridge, according to the police department.
Bowdoin College is located less than a mile south of the bridge, and about 25 miles northeast of Portland, the most populous city in the state.
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