Body confirmed as that of murder suspect: police

Police have confirmed that the body salvaged from a river was that of a suspect who was accused of killing an air stewardess in Zhengzhou City in central China, local police said today.

The body was discovered around 4:30am on May 12 in Zhengzhou, Henan Province. The body basically matches description of Liu Zhenhua, the murder suspect, and DNA tests confirmed it was that of Liu, police said.

Liu was alleged to have killed a 21-year-old air stewardess who ordered a ride-sharing service via Didi Chuxing and got onboard his car.

The victim, surnamed Li, got on Liu's car on the early morning of May 6 in Zhengzhou, after she placed an order on Didi Chuxing, China's biggest ride-sharing platform, Zhengzhou police said on Thursday.

Li was heading from the city's airport hotel to downtown. Police said Liu might have killed Li and then abandoned his car and jumped into a river.

According to Li's father, his daughter suffered multiple knife wounds on the body, and her lower part was naked when her corpse was discovered on May 8, along with a dagger nearby, Beijing Youth Daily reported.

Later police found her pants in the suspect's car, the newspaper reported.

Didi said it would suspend its hitch-hiking service for one week after the alleged murder.