Police Believe They Found Missing Model In Shallow Grave

LOS ANGELES, CA — Detectives believe they found the body of a missing young Hollywood model in a shallow grave upstate, police announced Tuesday. Police said a North Hollywood actor who committed suicide following a dramatic police chase last week was involved in her death.

Los Angeles police Capt. William P. Hayes said the body found in the Spenceville Wildlife Area about 40 miles north of Sacramento won't be positively identified until an autopsy is conducted Wednesday, but investigators believe it is that of 25-year-old Adea Shabani, an aspiring actress and model who had moved to Hollywood from Macedonia.

"At this point in time we believe that those remains are the body of Miss Adea Shabani. We cannot say that conclusively at this point in time because the conditions of the remains prohibited positive identification," Hayes said at a Tuesday news conference at LAPD headquarters. "We also believe that ... Christopher Spotz was somehow involved in her death and we believe this to be a homicide, however, until the conclusion of the autopsy and our ability to examine the evidence related to the recovery of that evidence we won't be able to determine that definitively."

He said a cause of death was pending the results of Wednesday's autopsy.

Shabani was last seen the afternoon of Feb. 23 leaving her home near the 1700 block of Wilcox Avenue, between Hollywood Boulevard and Franklin Avenue, Hayes said. At the time, she was with a fellow aspiring actor named Christopher Spotz, who fatally himself last week in Riverside County.

Hayes said the pair were leaving for a trip to Northern California. Shabani was reported missing two days later, and Spotz eventually released a statement through his attorney that the pair had gotten into a fight during the trip, and he claimed he dropped her off in the Santa Clarita area and never saw her again.

Hayes said investigators doubt the veracity of that claim.

Shabani and Spotz, 33, , were involved in a romantic relationship although Spotz was engaged to someone else with whom he traveled to Colorado at the beginning of March, Hayes said.

Hayes said investigators are examining evidence collected from the pickup truck and a rental car used by Spotz while in Colorado.

Related: Actor Boyfriend Of Missing Model Kills Himself During Chase

LAPD and sheriff's detectives were at the site Tuesday with anthropologists from Cal State Chico to determine if the site is a grave site.

Shabani came from Macedonia and had been in Los Angeles less than two years, according to her friends. Her family hired a private investigator to help find her and offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to her whereabouts.

Last Thursday night, a Spotz fatally shot himself during a law enforcement chase from Hesperia to the Corona area. Spotz appeared in various short films over the past three years and had a minor role in a forthcoming web series called "The Shoaks," according to IMDB.com.

Anyone with information regarding Shabani's whereabouts was urged to call the LAPD's Missing Persons Unit at (213) 996-1800. During non-business hours, calls should be directed to (877) LAPD-24-7. Anonymous tips can be submitted through Crime Stoppers by calling (800) 222-TIPS.

Information can also be submitted by calling the private investigator, Beverly Hills-based Origin Investigations Inc., at (800) 358-3830.

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City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.