Exchange student slain after frantic friend watches webcam attack
WASHINGTON. April 19. KAZINFORM A 23-year-old exchange student, attacked in her Toronto apartment while a friend in China watched via computer webcam, was found dead there hours later, police say.
Toronto Police on Monday identified the student as Qian (Necole) Liu of Beijing. She was talking early Friday morning to a male friend from home when a man allegedly knocked on her door, asking to use her phone, police said in a news release.
The online witness said he saw Liu and the unknown man struggle for a time before the attacker turned off her laptop, the news release said.
The friend in China then started a desperate bid to find out what happened, CNN-affiliate CTV reported.
Ten hours later, police arrived at the basement apartment to find Liu's body, naked from the waist down. Her laptop was missing.
"It was obvious that she had been dead for some period of time," Detective Sgt. Frank Skubic said in the news release.
The cause of the death is yet to be determined, the news release said. There were no obvious signs of sexual assault or severe physical trauma, and police are awaiting toxicology reports, it said, CNN reports.
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