Police in Maine are trying to solve the mysterious death of a college student whose body was found in a parking lot off campus over the weekend.
Bowdoin College student Qingyang Zhan, who was known as K, was found dead Sunday morning in a lot near the Frank J. Wood Bridge in Topsham.
The Topsham Police Department was dispatched to investigate a report of a body in the lot. The lot is currently where equipment is parked for the construction of the replacement of the bridge.
They found the 20-year-old student's body and they are awaiting an autopsy from the Medical Examiner's Office to rule on a cause of death.
Police say the investigation is continuing but there is currently no cause to believe that there is an active threat to the community.
"Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of the deceased as well as the Bowdoin College Community," the department said in a statement.
Bowdoin College President Safa R. Zaki alerted the campus of the "upsetting" death and said counseling would be made available.
She noted that Zhan was born in Shanghai, China, and had been living in the US since 2019.
Zhan started at Bowdoin in the fall of 2021. Faculty members describe her as a bright and engaging presence.
She helped found Bowdoin's Chinese Students Association and was also active in the Asian Student Association.
A government and legal studies and Asian studies double major, she was a learning assistant for Asian Studies in the Baldwin Center for Teaching and Learning and a musician who played the piano and guitar as part of the Bowdoin Concert Band, the school said.
"K's death is a devastating tragedy for her parents, her brother, other loved ones, and also for her friends, classmates, and our entire Bowdoin community," Zaki said in a letter to the campus. "This news is very difficult to process, especially since we do not yet know the circumstances of K's death. Please take care of yourselves and of others and take advantage of the opportunities to come together."
The school plans a memorial service in the coming days.
