Mitchell Schmidt, and Holly Hines

Police have confirmed that the main person of interest in a Chinese student's disappearance, previously identified as her boyfriend, has left the country.

"We have reason to believe that the person of interest is in China at this time," said Sgt. Scott Gaarde, public information officer with the Iowa City Police Department. "At this time we have just one person of interest that we're following up leads."

Gaarde said he was not entirely sure what that will mean for the investigation but added that at this point the main priority in the case remains identifying a body found in a car's trunk Friday night in Iowa City.

"That remains to be seen, obviously that's a unique twist in a normal investigation, but right now it's a step-by-step process such as identifying the deceased and then making the proper notifications to the family members," he said.

Tong Shao, a 20-year-old Iowa State University student, has been missing from Ames since Sept. 6. She last was heard from Sept. 8, when she indicated she was in Iowa City.

Authorities confirmed late Friday that the body found Friday in the trunk of a beige 1997 Toyota Camry with Kentucky license plates is related to Shao's disappearance.

Gaarde said he's currently unable to share additional information, although Lt. Mike Brotherton of Iowa City police previously identified the person of interest as Shao's boyfriend.

Officers first discovered the vehicle – which was parked near apartment complex 44 of Dolphin Lake Point Enclave, 2401 Highway 6, in Iowa City – earlier Friday and issued a search warrant after an odor was noticed around the car.

Trystian Escher, 18, who lives with his father at the complex where the car was found, said he saw a man move the car Friday.

He later watched, half-asleep, from his window as police cordoned off the scene Friday night. Close to 40 residents gathered behind the police tape as medical examiner officials removed the body and placed it on a stretcher.

"It was kind of weird," he said. "It's my first time I've ever seen that happen."

Trystian's father, Chad Escher, said the car was parked in the spot where he normally parks on Friday morning and that he noticed a bad smell.

"It's like, OK, what the heck's going on out here," he said.

Cleaster Taylor, 48, who lives in the building across from the scene, also said the car struck her as unusual before Friday night's discovery. She said about two weeks ago, when her son dropped her off at home after a trip to the grocery store, she saw a male get out of the car.

"Yesterday, that gruesome, awesome discovery was horrifying," she said.

John Salmon and Tori Chick have lived in the apartment complex since August and said they had noticed the car on the property in different locations for a number of days, if not weeks.

"It's shocking just that it happened," Salmon said. "It's not every day that you hear there's a dead body 20 feet from your apartment."

Mike Hensch, administrator with the Johnson County Medical Examiner's office, said an autopsy was underway on the body Saturday afternoon.

Brotherton said the body appeared to have been in the trunk for a number of days.

"It's unfortunate that it had to end this way," he said. "Whoever that is has been there for some time."

The Iowa City Police Department is investigating with the assistance of the Ames Police Department, Iowa State Patrol, Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, Johnson County Medical Examiner's office, Johnson County Sheriff's Office, Coralville Police Department, University of Iowa Police Department and the Johnson County Attorney.

"We haven't had a suspicious death investigation in Iowa City for quite some time, certainly I can't remember when the last one was. It's fortunate we don't have a lot of these but certainly we're going to give it a full investigation," Brotherton said.