Police in Michigan are asking anyone with information about professional poker player Susie Zhao to come forward after her charred body was found in a parking lot near a park.
Zhao, 33, spent much time in Las Vegas and Los Angeles but had recently returned to her home state of Michigan to live with her parents. Her mother last saw her alive on July 12, and the next morning, her “badly burned” body was discovered outside of Detroit near the Pontiac Lake Recreation Area, according to the White Lake Township Police Department.
The death is being investigated by not only local authorities but also the FBI. Detective Chris Hild of the White Lake Township Police said that Zhao’s job playing poker is also under scrutiny.
“You have to determine whether or not this is a cover-up, or this may be some sort of retaliatory incident because of her profession,” Hild said.
“She really was an excellent player,” friend and poker competitor Bart Hanson told WXYZ. “One of the best in LA at the level we played at the Commerce Casino, and it’s the biggest poker room in the world.”
“I never would have thought anyone would of wanted to do anything to her,” Hanson added. Another friend, Meredith Rogowski, told WIFR that Zhao was “a free spirit in the truest sense.
