A 32-year-old woman was speeding on a Minnesota highway when she crashed into a guard rail. And as a passerby came along to help treat her injuries, a police officer at the scene noticed something "suspicious" in the back of her car: a dead body.
Of course a dead body is, unfortunately, not uncommon after an accident. But this body was "cold to the touch." Not only that, the dead woman was wrapped "in a bed sheet, blanket, futon-style mattress, and a tarp, on a folded-down seat," according to The Independent.
"[I]t was immediately apparent that the death was not a result of the motor vehicle accident," the Olmsted County Sheriff's Office said in a statement on Monday.
The suspect, Margot Lewis, from Iowa, was arrested on suspicion of interference with a dead body and is being held on a $1 million unconditional bond. Nobody has yet been charged with murder.
From The Independent:
Liara Tsai, 35, was discovered in the back of a sub-compact car that had crashed on a highway in Minnesota on Saturday morning…
The driver of the car, 32-year-old Margot Lewis, from Iowa, is being held on a $1 million bond on suspicion of interference with a dead body. She has reportedly refused to respond audibly to officers, saying she has taken a "spiritual vow of silence" and will only communicate through sign language or writing.
Investigators also found that there was a "large wound" on the side of her neck near the carotid artery.A Minneapolis police report filed on Saturday night also classified Tsai's death as a case of murder, noting that the weapon involved was a knife or other "cutting instrument," the Star Tribune reported.
After news broke that Tsai, who worked as a DJ, was the person found dead in the car, her family has been mourning the loss of the woman who they said moved to the Twin Cities for the strong transgender community and to pursue her love of music.
Previously: Dead body in drinking water reservoir for a month results in "boil water advisory"
