At the time, Perry was a senior at MIT studying biological engineering, according to school spokeswoman Kimberly Allen.
At that time, Mr. Pan, the person of interest, was a doctoral student in the electrical engineering and computer science department at MIT. He enrolled there in September 2014, months after completing his undergraduate degree at the school, said Allen. He is also a researcher at the school’s computer science and artificial intelligence laboratory.
Perry said that she and Jiang spent Saturday together. They went ice fishing and cooked dinner at her apartment, according to New Haven Independent.
Some time after the murder, police officers in North Haven “got in touch” with Pan, which put him on the authorities’ radar, Chief Reyes said. At the time, North Haven police were unaware of the murder. Chief Reyes did not provide further details and the North Haven police did not respond to a request for comment.
Authorities said they did not believe that Pan, from Malden, Massachusetts, was still in Connecticut. He was last seen at a Best Western hotel in North Haven, Connecticut, about eight miles northeast of the shooting site.
Authorities searched Pan’s home on Monday and did not locate him there, a Massachusetts State Police spokesman said. On Thursday, investigators in Connecticut were looking for evidence near an Arby’s and an auto repair shop on the same street as the Best Western.
The Marshals Service said it believed Mr. Pan was staying with friends or family in Duluth, Georgia, or Brookhaven, Georgia, two suburbs of Atlanta. When he was last seen, he was “carrying a black backpack and acting strange,” said delegates.