Coroner's confirm body found in grave is missing model-actress

A body that was pulled from a shallow grave in Northern California was positively identified Wednesday as that of a model and aspiring actress who disappeared from Hollywood last month.

Nevada County sheriff's officials say Adea Shabani, 25, suffered "blunt force trauma to her head,'' but a final cause of death has been deferred pending toxicology tests. Her death has been ruled a homicide,
according to the sheriff's office.

Even though the official confirmation just came out, Shabani's Stella Adler classmates said when they heard a body was recovered Tuesday, they knew it was hers.

"Yesterday was a mourning day. It was the longest day...for everyone. We came here at 10 o clock. We all felt it was 3 am. So heavy," said Diane Devilers.

Nevada County Sheriff's Lt saying Wednesday she was identified through tattoos.

The official cause of death still hasn't been determined, but her death has been ruled a homicide.

The twenty-five-year old was last seen leaving her Wilcox Avenue apartment with boyfriend Chris Spotz five weeks ago.

"It's confusing. Because we knew Chris, we had classes with him, he was a part of the family and we don't know what to believe," said Devilers.

After friends reported Shabani missing, Spotz told LAPD he got in a fight with Shabani during a trip to Northern California, and let her out of his truck.

Police say Spotz briefly left town with his fiance....and last week, killed himself after a police pursuit.

LAPD suspects he is involved in her death.

"You could see darkness in him...you could see issues...or something was going on," said Devilers.

Classmates say their class and their lives will never be the same.

"She was beautiful. Like....extremely beautiful. Inside and outside. You could turn on the street everyone would turn around. But it wasn't just that. She was such a sweetheart," said Devilers.

A family spokesperson says the story is far from over, they plan to possibly release more information in coming weeks.

EARLIER:

An autopsy is scheduled Wednesday on a body that was pulled from a shallow grave in Northern California and is believed to be that of a model and aspiring actress who disappeared in Hollywood last month.

Los Angeles police Capt. William P. Hayes said Tuesday investigators believe the body found in the Spenceville Wildlife Area about 40 miles north of Sacramento is that of 25-year-old Adea Shabani and that a man who committed suicide following a recent police chase was likely involved in her death.

Dozens gathered outside the missing woman's Hollywood apartment Tuesday night for a vigil to remember the model as a memorial builds up on the sidewalk outside the building.

A friend tells FOX 11, "She was so full of life and one of those people who come into a room and you notice them."

Shabani was last seen on 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 shot himself last week following a police chase 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, of North Hollywood, 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.

A friend of Spotz's who attended the same acting class as the pair tells FOX 11, "It doesn't seem real, it seems like a movie that shouldn't exist."

That same friend tells us he had no idea the two were dating and as far as he knew, Spotz had a longtime girlfriend who he had only met briefly.

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.

As the investigation progressed, police began searching for Spotz in hopes of examining his Toyota Tacoma pickup for possible clues, Hayes said. Spotz was spotted in the Tacoma in San Bernardino County Thursday night and fled when police tried to stop him. The chase led from Hesperia to the Corona area, where Spotz fatally shot himself, Hayes said.

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

"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.''

Spotz, who is believed to have attended the same acting school as Shabani, appeared in various short films over the past three years and had a minor role in a forthcoming web series ``The Shoaks,'' according to IMDB.com.

Copyright 2018 FOX 11 Los Angeles: Download our mobile app for breaking news alerts or to watch FOX 11 News | Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.