Marisha Cheong Found: Body of missing NYC woman washes ashore in Queens, NY
(CBS) VALLEY STREAM, N.Y. - The body of Marisha Cheong, a 24-year-old college student who disappeared without a trace on Dec. 19, 2012, washed ashore near Breezy Point in Queens on Saturday, CBS New York reports.
PICTURES: Body of missing NY woman washes up on beach
She was dressed in her pajamas and her hands were bound, the station reports. The cause of death remains unclear.
Bibi Ali, Cheong's mother, doesn't believe her daughter's boyfriend is telling the truth regarding her disappearance and wants to hear from him directly, the station says.
Cheong, who was a student at Long Island University in Brooklyn, had been living in Queens with her boyfriend, LJ Balkaran, prior to her December disappearance.
Ali told reporters that Balkaran has given four different explanations as to when he saw Cheong last, CBS New York reports.
According to the station, Balkaran admitted he argued with Cheong on the morning she disappeared, telling police she texted him to get her at a Forest Hills subway station, but she never showed.
When CBS New York spoke to Balkaran on Jan. 13, he denied he had any involvement in her disappearance.
"Oh no. No. Just now, just finding her, that's all we care about," he told the station on Jan. 13. "My whole life is around that. Nothing else matters in my life at this point, but finding out who did this."
The station reports family members and friends were wary of tweets and text messages Cheong sent on the day she went missing.
Cheong's mother, Ali, told the station she is haunted by a text message she received right before her daughter's disappearance.
"Mom I'm fine I just need a little time to think," the text read, according to the station. Ali says her daughter always called her Mommy.
No arrests have been made in the case. Cheong's family is begging anyone with information to call the police.
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