The detail -- released Wednesday by police -- is an additional piece in the puzzle of Yarmolenko's killing.

The 20-year-old UNC Charlotte student was found in the Water's Edge community, near the Stowe Family YMCA in Mount Holly, authorities said. Police said she died from asphyxiation, but wouldn't say whether she was strangled or smothered.

Police haven't released a suspect's name or a motive, but Mount Holly Police Chief David Belk said both front doors of Yarmolenko's blue Saturn sedan were open when her body was spotted by a woman riding a personal watercraft.

Authorities said Yarmolenko didn't appear to have a reason to drive to Mount Holly that Monday.

"Someone caused her death. Whether they drove that vehicle down there, I can't tell you that," Belk said. "Whether they pulled her out of the vehicle, I can't tell you that either, simply because I do not know."

Yarmolenko was born in the Ukraine but grew up in Chapel Hill. She graduated from Chapel Hill High in 2006.

Anyone with information should call Mount Holly Police at 704-827-4343.