Woman Who Disappeared After Tinder Date Found Dead, Family Says

LINCOLN, Neb. (WWJ/AP) - Family members say a 24-year-old Lincoln, Nebraska woman who went missing after a Tinder date has been found dead.

FBI Special Agent Randy Thysse said at a Lincoln news conference that investigators strongly believe a female body, found in southeast Nebraska's Clay County, is that of Sydney Loofe, who was reported missing Nov. 16.

A post Monday night on the Finding Sydney Loofe Facebook page, run by the young woman's family reads, "It's with heavy hearts that we share this most recent update with you all...May God grant eternal rest unto thee. We love you Sydney."

The post included a link to an Antelope County News, article which read: "In a tragic ending to the search for Sydney Loofe, her parents announced Monday night that the Neligh native's body has been recovered."

The FBI said evidence of a crime was found along with the body, but officials did not elaborate. Thysse said autopsy results were still pending.

"We do believe that there is evidence of foul play" said Lincoln Police Chief Jeff Bliemeister, but he wouldn't provide any specifics.

Family and friends have said Loofe went on a date Nov. 15 with someone she met on the popular location-based social media app Tinder. She was last seen in Wilber, 40 miles (64 kilometers) southwest of Lincoln, police said.

Loofe shared a Snapchat story with the caption "ready for my date" before she was last seen; and a friend, Terra Gehrig, said Loofe told her she was going on a second date with a woman she'd met on Tinder the previous night.

As an investigation continues, detectives are still talking to 51-year-old Aubrey Trail, who, along with 23-year-old Bailey Boswell, who said they had contact with Loofe.

Trail and Boswell are considered people of interest in Loofe's disappearance and were arrested on unrelated warrants. Their social media comments led investigators to believe they may have been the last people with Loofe before she disappeared, Bliemeister said. In a video the pair posted online, Boswell said she was the woman who Loofe met through Tinder.

As of Tuesday, neither Trail nor Boswell had been charged with any crime related to the case.

Trail, who has lived in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, left a South Dakota prison in 2005 after serving time for theft in Pennington County. Nebraska court records say he's also served time in a Nebraska prison on convictions for forgery and for issuing bad checks. The warrant for his arrest listed the charges as being a habitual criminal and possession of a deadly weapon by a prohibited person — a felon. Court records say he lives in Wilber.

Boswell, who was sought on a failure to appear warrant in a drug case, lives in Trenton, Missouri, the Nebraska records say.

© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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