EL DORADO, Kan. — A body found in Kansas appears to be that of a missing college student who led a secret life as an Internet porn star, police said Thursday.
Authorities said the preliminary physical description of the body found about 50 miles east of El Dorado matches that of missing college student Emily Sander. Investigators refused to give details about the state of the body or how it was found.
Sander’s case drew wide attention after it was revealed that she appeared nude on a popular adult website under the name Zoey Zane.
That site was temporarily inaccessible Thursday, as were several sites that bill themselves as “fan” sites of Zane.
But Police Chief Tom Boren insisted Thursday that Sander’s Internet activity had no connection to her disappearance.
“The issue of the Internet and the spinoff of that has been literally crippling our investigation,” Boren said.
Boren said the cause of death was not yet known.
Sander, 18, was last seen leaving an El Dorado bar last Friday with a man who has been the focus of a nationwide search since police found large quantities of blood in a Kansas motel room where he was staying.
Prior to finding the body, investigators said they had not found a link between Sander and her activities as Zoey Zane.
Sander, who attended Butler Community College, left the bar with Israel Mireles, 24. Authorities are looking for him and his 16-year-old pregnant girlfriend.
The rental car Mireles was driving was found abandoned Tuesday in Vernon, Texas, where he has relatives.
“We feel they know where he is at, but they haven’t shared that with us,” Boren said.
