Found Deceased CA - Mengyao 'May' Zhou, 23, Stanford University, 20 Jan 2007

Because I had heard that LE is leaning towards May's death as a suicide, I wondered if she had found a way to attach a hose with the exhaust going into the trunk. But, I can't think of a way that the hose to trunk hose set up would not set off warning signals in a fairly busy parking lot. That would be very poor planning. May was by all accounts organized, exceptionally brilliant, very detailed, and committed. It doesn't jive now that I understand more of the facts and her personality.

If it was a suicide I would think that May would commit it in an organized, clean, detailed manner and have all of her ducks in a row prior to it. If the trunk were a spacious trunk with a decent carpet, then I can picture it. But, I can't picture someone described with May's personality stuffing herself into a small trunk. I can understand if she did not want to die in her home or inside her campus quarters. But, I would think she would find a better way than to cram into her small trunk. But, I suppose it is possible. By the time someone reaches the point of deciding on suicide, a person's mind and thinking are already atypical.

In the article here, http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/merc...ws/16559965.htm


the father stated, " Zhou said he had only recently learned that she

conducted some online banking transactions shortly before she left her apartment Saturday.
The transactions were ``unusual,'' he said, because of the amount. He declined to elaborate."

So like SeriouslySearching noted May conducted online banking shortly prior to her death. We have no idea what kind of banking it was or if it had anything to do with what happened. However, her father thought it was unusual. It may mean something. I hope LE is going over everything with an open mind so that all possible clues are not overlooked.

Sometimes there are tell tale signs that become more evident in hindsight. Giving away cherished possessions, for example. No mention was made of May doing anything preparatory, yet we don't know many of the details. She may have had signs we haven't heard. What we do know is that she was still actively planning her future it seems up until her death. This is a contradiction with suicide I would think.

I recall that initial findings in the autopsy showed no signs of foul play. That is troubling. However, I imagine there have been murders where there were no outward, physical sign of foul play. I hope LE is going on more then that in their determination of the facts.

May sounds like she was an asset to our world, a lovely, gifted young lady. Her family is grieving, and to add to their pain they must deal with the possibility that their beloved May killed herself. What may even be worse is that they just don't know. I pray for May's family, and my heart hurts for them.

Lion
 
Montana, no problem. I tend to be very blunt and to the point, and not the most sensitive soul. I forget that there are FAMILIES of victims on this board, and I should be more aware of how I sound.

Lion, I am wondering if the unusual banking wasn't some sort of giving away of cherished posessions - like xferring money into parents account or something.
 
From
http://daily.stanford.edu/article/2007/1/29/

"Details about Zhou's car render the case even more perplexing. Police
found Zhou's body in the trunk of her 2006 Toyota Corolla. But
according to Toyota, all 2006 Corollas are equipped with a glow-in-the-
dark "Internal Trunk Safety Handle," which allow the trunk to be
opened from the inside in the case of emergencies."
 
BethInAK said:
From
http://daily.stanford.edu/article/2007/1/29/

"Details about Zhou's car render the case even more perplexing. Police
found Zhou's body in the trunk of her 2006 Toyota Corolla. But
according to Toyota, all 2006 Corollas are equipped with a glow-in-the-
dark "Internal Trunk Safety Handle," which allow the trunk to be
opened from the inside in the case of emergencies."
If this was a homicide then she might have been dead before she was put in there. (IF)

I guess autopsy results will help clear this up.
 
http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/state/16578516.htm?source=rss&channel=cctimes_state

Police sticking with suicide in student death

Woman's father says investigators won't share findings, seek evidence to bolster their claims

By Jessie Mangaliman and Sean Webby
MEDIANEWS STAFF

A weekend search of a dormitory at Stanford University and interviews with family in San Diego have yielded no new clues in the death of May Zhou, the graduate student whose body was found in the trunk of her car in Santa Rosa days after she was reported missing.

Zhou, 23, a doctoral student, was last seen leaving her dormitory Jan. 20, apparently to run errands. Her car was discovered Thursday, parked at a lot at Santa Rosa Community College. Police said they found unspecified items in the trunk to indicate suicide.

Santa Rosa detectives interviewed the Zhou family in San Diego on Sunday and told them that they found nothing in the dormitory to dissuade them from their initial findings. Results of an autopsy are pending and could take a month.

.......................more at link.....................
 
Maybe the autopsy will tell the true story. I can't imagine getting into the trunk of my vehicle to commit suicide. If it was a suicide then she must have taken pills or done something so that she would die. This doesn't make sense to me at all. You wouldn't die from just shutting yourself in the trunk would you? It seems like a person would start to panick and get out...especially as there was a way to get out in her 2006 car.

I can see someone killing her and putting her in the trunk and parking the car where they did as someone would eventially find it there.

I wonder what LE found in the trunk with her that led them to believe it was a suicide?
 
Mengyao “May” Zhou, the 23-year-old electrical engineering graduate student who was found dead in the trunk of her car in the parking lot of Santa Rosa Junior College on Jan. 25, had toxic levels of an over-the-counter drug in her body at the time of her death, investigators said late last week.



The drug, diphenhydramine, is most commonly found in sleep aids and in Benadryl, an anti-histamine medication used to alleviate allergic reactions. According to the Sonoma County coroner, whose office conducted Zhou’s autopsy, “potentially toxic” levels of diphenhydramine can be anywhere from 1-5 mg/L.

Tests showed that Zhou had 6.15 mg/L in her body when she died.

http://daily.stanford.edu/article/2007/2/20/zhouToxicologyReportShowsHighSedativeLevels

the comments are interesting about "pictures" showing violence, i'm assuming of the car???
here is her website:
www.mayzhou.com
 
Did they ever list what the unusual amounts were?

If they're small amounts, very small.. it's maybe possible she left a message through the withdrawals. Anywhere from 1 to 26 dollars per withdrawal and 26 letters in the alphabet, maybe there's a message within?

Probably way off base sorry, but it's just something that I thought of while reading a few of the posts in the thread.
 
The autopsy finding about the diphenhydramine is interesting. It would take very little internet research to figure out that it's not an easy or pleasant way to commit suicide. Anectdotally, I have worked in several large ERs and psychiatric units and a serious OD on benadryl wasn't seen too often. Usually the person would show up haven taken just a few (5-6 pills) and decide they weren't ready to die. Like the article said, symptoms of diphenhydramine poisoning are pretty miserable.
 
That's also a hard thing to slip into somebody's drink. I've never tried it, but I can imagine it would taste very bitter. It would be very hard to fool someone into taking that.

Maybe it was put into food though...hmm.

And I can attest to how much it sucks to take too much benadryl...i couldn't sleep one night, and all I had in the house was benadryl. I took like five or six, hoping it would knock me out, but instead i tossed and turned all night and had these weird hallucinations. Not fun! I can't imagine a smart student like that choosing diphenhydramine as a suicide method. Anyone who would go through such a drastic measure surely has read up on the different methods.
 
mistivon said:
The father of a Stanford graduate student who was found dead in the trunk of her car wants to exhume his daughter's body to get a second autopsy and an examination by a noted forensics expert

http://www.nbc11.com/news/11175404/detail.html
I saw that article. The parents aren't accepting of her ruled suicide. It's said that it isn't uncommon for brilliant students to crack, and commit suicide. She was undoubtedly pushed hard to achieve academically, as Chinese families tend to do.

I live in one of the very top school districts in all of California, and the top schools in that school district, are all associated with where my home is. . Our city is now about 70% Asian, and almost every home that sells, in my neighborhood, is purchased by Asian families. It's all about the schools in this area; it's so important, for them, to send their children to the best schools. They are achievers.
 
I live in Santa Rosa and went to school where May's body was found. I just find it hard to believe that you would take bunch of pills and then choose to lock yourself in the trunk of your car, especially in that location. I just wonder... Why that location? Why would you get in the trunk of your car? That just doesn't add up, in my opinion.
 

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