University of Minnesota student Anarae Schunk likely died Sept. 22, the day she disappeared, police said.
Schunk, whose body was found Monday in rural Rice County, likely died in Rosemount the same day her ex-boyfriend allegedly shot and killed a man, according to a Thursday press release from the Rosemount Police Department.
Charges in Schunk’s death aren’t likely to be filed for several weeks, the release said.
Schunk, 20, was with her ex-boyfriend Anthony Lee Nelson when he allegedly shot and killed Palagor Obang Jobi in the parking lot of a Burnsville restaurant early the morning of Sept. 22, according to a criminal complaint filed last week in Dakota County District Court.
While Schunk’s case is related to the Burnsville Police Department’s investigation of Jobi’s death, it is being treated as a separate investigation, the Thursday press release said.
Nelson’s current girlfriend, Ashley Conrade, 24, was also at the scene of the shooting. She told police that she, Nelson and Schunk went to Conrade’s Rosemount home after the shooting.
Nelson, 31, was charged last Thursday with second-degree murder. Conrade was charged with aiding an offender for harboring Nelson until his arrest last Tuesday, according to the criminal complaint.
Police told Schunk’s family Tuesday they found her body Monday night.
Rosemount police are leading the investigation into her death, and will be assisted by the Dakota County Sheriff’s Office, Burnsville police and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the press release said.
“On behalf of all the law enforcement agencies involved in this investigation and the County Attorney’s Office, we wish to express our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Anarae Schunk for their great loss. We are committed to doing everything we can to bring justice to the person responsible for this horrific crime,” Rosemount Police Chief Eric Werner said in the release.
A public memorial service for Schunk will be held Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Burnsville Performing Arts Center, 12600 Nicollet Ave., Burnsville.
“We will have a chance to gather, share stories and memories in support of each other during this difficult time,” Schunk’s family wrote Thursday on a Facebook page created to help find her.