Anarae Schunk's Bloodied Jacket Found, Police Believe a Homicide Has Taken Place

A student at the University of Minessota has gone missing, and police now presume that she is dead after finding her blood-stained jacket.

“Last night Burnsville police recovered additional evidence which has led us to believe that Anarae Schunk may have been the victim of a homicide.

“This information was shared with Anarae Schunk's family late last night,” Sgt. Jeff Witte said in a press release conveyed by KSTP.

The Star Tribune describes that family and volunteers are searching for the 20-year-old student. The search mission has centered on the Lilydale area.

Schunk was last seen on September 22, after leaving Nina’s Grill in Burnsville with her ex-boyfriend, Shavelle Chavez-Nelson. His current girlfriend, 24-year-old Ashley Conrade, was also with them.

31-year-old Chavez-Nelson has been charged with fatal shooting of a man at around 2 a.m., outside Nina’s Grill.

“At the time of this shooting, Ms. Schunk was with her ex-boyfriend Shavelle Chavez-Nelson, who has been charged in connection with this shooting death, and Nelson's current girlfriend, Ashley Conrade, who has also been charged in connection with the matter.

“According to Ms. Conrade, Anarae Schunk returned to Conrade's Rosemount townhome with her and Nelson following the shooting,” Witte adds.

There is no information on how Schunk is connected to the killing. Her jacket was found in the home of Chavez-Nelson's ex-wife, visited by the student the day before. A knife has also been recovered from the roof of the house.

While police believe that the case is a homicide, they cannot file charges until recovering a body.

“We can’t [add charges] in Minnesota without a body. [...] We’ve got to find it,” the victim's brother, Tyson Schunk, describes.

They are currently scouring the area, aided by other students and members of the community. Keren Marin is part of a group that has searched Lilydale Regional Park.

“I can’t imagine someone would carry someone up this high. It’s hard getting up here myself,” she says after looking on an embankment beneath St. Paul’s High Bridge.