Police: Body Found In Lonsdale Was Missing 'U' Student

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A Burnsville family is now dealing with the news they feared most. Authorities confirmed Tuesday that a body found in rural Rice County is that of Anarae Schunk.

Rosemount police officers delivered the terrible news to Schunk's family. Their house in Burnsville was filled with people who immediately came by to try to comfort them.

The 20-year-old University of Minnesota sophomore had been missing since Sept. 22. Her body was found in a ditch by a cornfield on the 7000 block of 60th Street West in Lonsdale.

That's about a half hour drive south from Nina's Grill, the bar where Schunk was last seen more than a week ago with her ex-boyfriend, 31-year-old Shavelle Chavez-Nelson. Outside that Burnsville bar is where police say Chavez-Nelson shot a man several times, killing him.

Schunk's family said she had met up with her ex-boyfriend to try to get back some of the $5,000 she'd loaned him while they were dating.

Shortly after her disappearance, her relatives and friends formed teams to search several areas in the south metro. This past Friday, Burnsville police told the family they believed she was dead, but did not elaborate on the evidence.

On Sunday, her brother said police had found his sister's U of M jacket covered with blood and holes, indicating stab wounds.

Surveillance video showed Schunk going into Nina's Grill the night of the shooting, but there was no sign of her until nine days later. On Monday at around 4:30 p.m., a Rice County maintenance crew called 911, saying they found what appeared to be a woman in a ditch.

On Monday night, Schunk's family was asked to bring in her dental records. And then on Tuesday, the medical examiner determined it was a match.

Schunk's ex-boyfriend, who was arrested just two days after she was reported missing, is now in jail, charged with killing 23-year-old Palagor Jobi.

Police say Chavez-Nelson has a lengthy criminal record, and that he did not provide them with any information about Schunk's disappearance.

Schunk's death is still under investigation, with the Rosemount Police Department being the lead investigating agency. They are working with officers from the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and Burnsville Police.

An autopsy performed Tuesday should reveal Schunk's manner of death.