Police attending the scene of a crash along a highway in Minnesota discovered the dead body of a woman in the back seat – but quickly concluded her death had nothing to do with the accident.
The 32-year-old driver, who was outside the vehicle being tended to after the single-car accident, was arrested on interference with a dead body.
At 7am on Saturday, officers from the Olmstead County Sheriff’s Office responded to reports of an accident on Interstate 90, eastbound, near the Highway 42 Exit in Olmstead County, Minnesota, the police said in a press release on Monday.
Margot Lewis, 32, from Iowa and the driver of the vehicle, was being tended to by a passerby when police arrived.
The deputy on scene believed that Lewis had been speeding when she hit a guardrail that surrounded the pillars of an overpass, court documents obtained by the Star Tribune stated.
When officers went to check if anyone else was in the vehicle, they discovered the body of a woman, identified by police as 35-year-old Liara Tsai, in the back seat of the car.
Despite the vehicle getting into a crash moments prior, officers said that the condition of the deceased person was “suspicious,” and that it was “immediately apparent that the death was not a result of the motor vehicle accident.”
Lewis was taken by Eyota Ambulance Service to a hospital, where she was medically cleared and subsequently transferred to the Adult Detention Center.
She was placed under arrest and charged with Interference with a Dead Body in court on Tuesday, receiving a $1 million unconditional bond. Lewis is due back in court on July 5.
After news broke that Tsai, who worked as a DJ, was the person found dead in the car, her family is mourning the loss of the woman who moved to the Twin Cities for the strong transgender community and to pursue her love of music.
Kristen Sewell, Tsai’s sister, told KTTC that the accident that led to the discovery of her body was “divine intervention, hands down.”
“Someone just took another person who was that light away,” Sewell said. “She was a phenomenal D.J. I mean man, talented and drew a crowd.”
It is currently unclear what led to or caused Tsai’s death.
A search warrant affidavit and court documents seen by the Star Tribune stated that Tsai died prior to the crash on the interstate and that her body was wrapped in a bed sheet, blanket, futon-style mattress, and a tarp, adding that she was “cold to the touch.”
Investigators also found that there was a large wound on the side of Tsai’s neck.
It was apparent [to the deputy] that the death … was not a result of the traffic crash,” the complaint reportedly said.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara reportedly said that around 8pm, the sheriff’s office, the Minneapolis Police Department, and the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension were asked to conduct a welfare check at Tsai’s address. They executed a search warrant and found “a scene indicating violence” inside, according to ABC 6 News.
Steven Seuling, a friend of Tsai’s who stages events and hires Tsai as a DJ, told the Star Tribune that the two of them spoke Friday ahead of an event Tsai was booked for on Sunday.
“She said a friend was coming to stay with her,” Seuling told the outlet. “I checked in with her by text on Saturday, but she didn’t answer, which was very unusual for her.”
When Tsai, who Seuling described as a “community and trans activist,” did not turn up to play, he said that “we were really freaking out. It was very unlike her not to be there.”
In a statement to ABC 6 News, Tsai’s family said their sister’s death was “senseless and unfathomable.”
“Her life, like every human life, matters. She was a beautiful soul who wanted nothing more than to show kindness through her life and music,” they wrote. “We loved her immensely and our family has no words for the pain this has caused for us and the vast community of friends who had the honor of knowing her.”
The Independent has contacted the Southern Minnesota Regional Medical Examiner’s Office for further information.
