A Bowdoin College student has been found dead in a parking lot in Topsham.
The 20-year-old woman from California was found about 7:02 a.m. Sunday in a Main Street parking lot, according to Topsham Police Chief Marc Hagan.
Her body was taken to the Maine medical examiner’s office in Augusta, where an autopsy was conducted. Hagan said Sunday evening that the results are pending.
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of the deceased as well as the Bowdoin College Community,” Hagan said.
Hagan didn’t release the woman’ identity on Sunday, but Bowdoin College President Safa Zaki in a message to the campus community identified her as Qingyang Zhan.
Zhan, who also was known as K, was born in Shanghai, and she had been living in the United States since 2019, according to Zaki.
Zhan attended Oxnard College in Oxnard, California, before coming to Bowdoin College in Brunswick in the fall of 2021.
Zhan, who was a government and legal studies and Asian studies double major, helped found Bowdoin’s Chinese Students Association and was also active in the Asian Student Association, Zaki said.
“K’s death is a devastating tragedy for her parents, her brother, other loved ones, and also for her friends, classmates, and our entire Bowdoin community. This news is very difficult to process, especially since we do not yet know the circumstances of K’s death. Please take care of yourselves and of others and take advantage of the opportunities to come together,” Zaki said.
Zhan’s death remains under investigation, but Hagan said that there’s no active threat to the community.
The Main Street parking lot is being used to store construction equipment for the replacement of the Frank J. Wood Bridge.