FRESNO, Calif. (AP) – Authorities say they’ve confirmed that a body pulled from a Fresno, California canal is a 20-year-old woman missing for eight days.
Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer in a Monday news conference said the coroner’s office used dental record to identify Lucy Xiong.
Police says on July 28 she argued with her mother and left home. Later on the phone with her boyfriend she screamed and the call abruptly ended.
Dyer says Xiong drowned in the irrigation canal running through town, but the investigation remains open because it’s unclear how she went into the water; no injuries on her body suggest a crime.
Investigators have identified a woman who found a purse on the canal bank and stole Xiong’s identity.
Dyer says they’re searching for three others who used her debit and credit cards.
