An Iowa woman is facing serious charges after deputies found a dead woman in a car she was driving.
The car was involved in a crash in southeast Minnesota when deputies responded, only to find a body in the car.
Margot Lewis, 32, from North Liberty, Iowa, appeared in Olmsted County District Court in Rochester on Tuesday.
She has been charged with a felony for concealing a dead body, although she is not accused of causing the death of the deceased, 35-year-old Liara Tsai from Minneapolis.
Lewis was also charged with interfering with a dead body or death scene.
According to the criminal complaint, Olmsted County sheriff's deputies responded to a single-vehicle crash on Saturday morning along Interstate 90 at the Eyota exit, east of Rochester.
When they arrived, they found Lewis, the driver of the Chevrolet Sonic, with a passerby who had seen the crash.
Bystanders informed the deputies that they believed someone injured or dead was still in the car.
A sheriff’s deputy inspected the rear of the car and discovered a body wrapped in a blood-stained bed sheet, along with a blanket, futon mattress, and tarp.
The complaint notes that it was clear the person found in the back seat did not die as a result of the traffic accident.
The victim, identified as Liara Tsai, was the owner of the car.
Authorities have not disclosed the cause of Tsai’s death or any details about the relationship between her and Lewis.
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| Margot Lewis, the driver |
After the crash, Lewis was taken to a medical facility for evaluation and subsequently to jail.
The complaint mentions that Lewis "did not respond audibly to detention staff or investigators."
The Minneapolis Police Department and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension are also participating in the investigation.
Minneapolis police reported that they were contacted on Saturday to conduct a welfare check at Tsai’s residence in the city, where they discovered a scene indicating violence.
On Tuesday, a judge set Lewis’s bail at $1 million. She is scheduled to return to court on July 5.
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