(CNS) – The search for a model and aspiring actress who disappeared from Hollywood last month led to the discovery Tuesday of a woman’s body in a shallow grave in Northern California, though positive identification of the remains is still pending.

Lt. Rob Bringolf of the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that Los Angeles police detectives investigating the disappearance of 25-year-old Adea Shabani were in Northern California and that a woman’s body was unearthed about 8 a.m. on the bank of Dry Creek, which runs through the Spenceville Wildlife Area in a rural part of the county about 40 miles north of Sacramento.

The remains were not immediately identified and an autopsy was scheduled for Wednesday, Bringolf said.

He said anthropologists from Cal State Chico assisted in the investigation.

Shabani was last seen about 11 a.m. Feb. 23 near the 1700 block of Wilcox Avenue, between Hollywood Boulevard and Franklin Avenue, not far from her Los Angeles home, police said.

Shabani came from Macedonia and had been in Los Angeles less than two years, according to her friends. Her family hired a private investigator to help find her and offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to her whereabouts.

Last Thursday night, a North Hollywood man authorities suspect was involved in Shabani’s disappearance fatally shot himself during a law enforcement chase from Hesperia to the Corona area. Authorities said the man 33- year-old Christopher Spotz, was driving a stolen Toyota Tacoma pickup.

Various media reports, citing aquaintances, have indicated that Spotz and Shabani were involved romantically. Spotz, who allegedly attended the same acting school as Shabani, appeared in various short films over the past three years and had a minor role in a forthcoming web series called “The Shoaks,” according to IMDB.com.

Los Angeles police said more information would be released at a news conference Tuesday afternoon at LAPD headquarters.