Satellite image of the intersection near the location of the car accident where Tsai’s body was found in the trunk of a woman’s car on June 22, 2024, in Olmsted County, Minnesota (via Google Maps).
In Minnesota, a woman has been arrested and charged in a bizarre incident. Following a car accident, police discovered the body of a dead woman in her back seat, wrapped in a blanket and futon-style mattress with dried blood on the material.
The driver, Margot Lewis, 32, of North Liberty, Iowa, was charged with interference with a dead body on June 22. The Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office stated that deputies were dispatched to the scene of the single-car accident and found Lewis being attended to by a passerby. The accident occurred at Intersection 90 near Highway 42 by Eyota.
“In checking to see if anyone else was in the vehicle, a deceased individual, a 35-year-old female, was located in the back seat. The condition of the deceased was suspicious, and it was immediately apparent that the death was not a result of the motor vehicle accident,” police said in a statement on Facebook.
The deceased woman was identified as Liara Tsai, 35, of Minneapolis.
**Related Coverage**: Rochester, Minnesota, outlet KROC reported that tire tracks indicated Lewis was moving at a high rate of speed before the accident. When they searched her vehicle, officers found Tsai’s body in a “suspicious” condition with dried blood on the blanket and mattress she was wrapped in.
Tsai was positioned in the back seat with her head toward the passenger seat and her feet toward the driver’s seat. Police stated that Tsai did not die from injuries sustained in the single-car accident.
They found a large wound near the right side of Tsai’s neck.
KROC also reported that the Minneapolis Police Department executed a search warrant at Tsai’s home, uncovering a scene of violence.
The Star Tribune reported that Steven Seuling, who occasionally hired Tsai to work as a DJ for events he coordinated, said that before her death, Tsai mentioned a friend coming to stay with her at her house.
Seuling noted that Tsai had known this friend for six years and that the person was moving to Minneapolis from Iowa.
Tsai, according to Seuling, was a “community and trans activist” and “very, very much more than just a DJ.”
He expressed concern when she didn’t show up for a gig this past Sunday, as it was “very unlike her not to be there.”
Lewis was medically cleared after a hospital review and transported to the Adult Detention Center in Olmsted County. She reportedly made her first court appearance on Tuesday.
Police urge anyone with tips or information about Tsai’s death to call CrimeStoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477) or submit tips online via CrimeStoppersMN.org.
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