California police are searching for a mysterious man who fled out of a murdered coed's second-story window.
Menghan Zhuang, 23, a Chinese national in the U.S. studying at the California Institute of the Arts, was found unresponsive on Feb. 4. Police were called and found her with what are described as injuries to her upper body, police said in a press conference. Police did not release more details about her injuries.
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Lieutenant Michael Modica said that although medical aid was administered, Zhuang died at the scene. He said her roommate has been cooperating with the investigation and Modica emphasized that the roommate is not a person of interest in the case.
Modica said that a man was seen on video exiting from Zhuang's second-story window on the afternoon of the day she died. Police do not know who the man is, but said he was seen entering the apartment the night before she died.
"This person is the person of interest who we want to identify and locate," Modica said. "The homicide investigators believe there are people in the area who may have seen the person of interest or who might know his identity. Anyone with information is urged to contact the sheriff's homicide bureau."
Police do not know how Zhuang knew the person or what their relationship was, but they do believe she knew him.
"It is clear that this is not a random act of violence and that Zhuang somehow knew the person of interest, evident by bringing that person into her apartment," Modica said.
