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Police Say Body Found In Nevada County Is Missing Hollywood Model

NEVADA COUNTY (CBS13) — The Los Angeles Police Department announced Tuesday afternoon the body of a woman found in rural Nevada County is Adea Shabani.

Shabani is an aspiring Hollywood model who went missing from her home last month.

LA police detectives say Shabani's body was found in a shallow grave in the Spenceville Wildlife Area, northeast of Sacramento.

The Nevada County Sheriff's Office is not confirming the body's identity until they perform an autopsy.

"At this point in time we believe those remains are of Adea Shabani," said LA Police Capt. William Hayes.

Shabani, the 25-year-old aspiring model from Hollywood, who went missing in February.

Hayes says Shabani was last seen with Christopher Spotz, a man she was romantically involved with, and a suspect Hayes believes was involved in Shabani's death.

"In a statement, Spotz said the two were traveling to Northern California, they got into an argument around the Santa Clarita area, and he let her out of his car, as he says he hasn't seen her since then," Hayes said during the press conference.

That account was not confirmed by LAPD detectives. They say Spotz was driving up to Northern California with Shabani, just before she went missing.

Detectives say Spotz has relatives around Yuba County, near the Spenceville Wildlife Area, where the LAPD believes Shabani was buried.

Last week, Spotz led police on a chase in Riverside County in a stolen Toyota Tacoma truck, before taking his life with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

CHP Riverside tells CBS13 they believe that truck was involved in a homicide out of Los Angeles County.

"On Monday, March 26, LA officers and divers walked the shores and searched the water, and that's when they found a shallow grave with human remains," Captain Hayes added.

Nevada County sheriff's deputies and anthropologists from Cal State Chico were called out to the gravesite Tuesday morning, to help exhume the body.

"The condition of that body was not in pristine condition so it was in such a condition that an ID cannot be made," said Nevada County Lt. Rob Brigolf.

Until there's an autopsy, Nevada County sheriff's deputies remain tight-lipped, the motive and cause of death, still a mystery.

Shabani moved to Hollywood from Macedonia to pursue modeling, just months before her disappearance.

The Nevada County Sheriff's Office will conduct an autopsy on the body Wednesday to confirm the identity.

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