U of M student's body found in Lonsdale

On late Monday afternoon, Sept. 30, a body was found in a rural roadside ditch just northeast of Lonsdale in Wheatland Township. After an investigation by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner on Tuesday, a release from Rosemount Police Chief Eric Werner stated that the body was identified as being the missing University of Minnesota student Anarae Schunk.

Schunk had been missing since September 22, after last being seen by her best friend who dropped her off to meet up with her ex-boyfriend Shavelle Chavez-Nelson, 31. She was seen on surveillance video going into Nina's Grill in Burnsville that same evening with Chavez-Nelson, who was later arrested for fatally shooting a man outside that bar.

The Rosemount Police are currently the lead investigating agency in the case, in partnership with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the Dakota County Sheriff's Office and other law enforcement agencies.

The investigation is ongoing and police are seeking information from the public to help with the case. Please contact the Dakota County Sheriff's Office tip line at 651-438-4720 with any information. Anonymous information can also be provided online at http://www.dakotacountysheriff.org/etlp.html.