Police in Michigan have taken a 60-year-old man into custody in connection with the death of professional poker player Susie Zhao, whose badly burned body was found July 13 near Pontiac Lake State Recreation Area.
White Lake Township police pickup up the Pontiac man, who was not identified, Friday morning following a traffic stop, Detective Lt Christopher Hild said, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Hild said police also executed a search warrant on the suspect’s vehicle at that time.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Hild said earlier that investigators believe Zhao, 33, was killed after 11:45 p.m. on July 12. Her remains were found the following morning in a Department of Natural Resources parking area by two men heading for work.
Law enforcement identified her remains through fingerprint analysis. Zhao’s vehicle was not in the parking area — it had been impounded earlier for traffic-related offenses — and Hild said police are unsure why she was at the park, although she appeared to be wearing jogging-type clothing when her body was found.
Zhao was known in the professional poker circuit as Susie Q. Zhao’s former roommate Yuval Bronshtein told WXYZ that Zhao bounced between cities, including Los Angeles and Las Vegas, and had recently moved back to Michigan to be closer to family and deal with some issues in her personal life.
Reports indicated Zhao lived in Los Angeles and moved in with her parents in Waterford Township, Michigan, on June 9.
It is not yet known how Zhao died, as toxicology and autopsy results are pending. WDIV reported that the FBI is involved in the ongoing investigation.
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[Featured image: Susie Zhao/Facebook]
