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Body ID'd as Mich. woman who vanished from Halloween party

ASH TOWNSHIP, Mich. -- The skeletal remains found at a home construction site in southeastern Michigan are those of a 22-year-old woman who went missing last fall after attending a Halloween party, a medical examiner's spokesman said Saturday.

Ryan Bridges with the medical examiner's office in Wayne County told The Associated Press that dental records identified the remains as Chelsea Bruck.

Monroe County Sheriff Dale Malone said evidence collected at the scene indicates that Bruck's death was a homicide, although a cause of death remains inconclusive, The Monroe News reported.

Police were reportedly called on Friday after construction workers working in Ash Township discovered a body, according to CBS Detroit. Monroe County Sheriff Deputy Chief Heath Velliquette told reporters that a man came across the victim's body as he was doing work on his property.

Bruck, of Maybee, disappeared after attending the party in Newport, southwest of Detroit and about 15 miles away from where her body was discovered Friday in Monroe County's Ash Township.

She was dressed as the fictional comic villain Poison Ivy at the party and was wearing a leaf-covered top and a dark purple wig. Her body wasn't clothed when workers found it while trying to free a dump truck from the soggy soil.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the Bruck family," said Malone, the Monroe County sheriff.

Police also say that the autopsy could take up to a month to complete, according to CBS Detroit. Investigators believe the homicide occurred at the property where the body was found.

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A composite image of a man who may have been seen with Chelsea Bruck. Monroe County Sheriff's Office

Investigators and volunteers had been searching for Bruck since she went missing Oct. 26. A witness told police about seeing Bruck in her costume around 3 a.m. that day, walking in the direction of where cars were parked. A man was with her.

Police later released a sketch of the man she was seen with at the party.

Two other people were charged in the case after they allegedly lied to investigators.

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