A 60-year-old Michigan man has been arrested in connection to the death of professional poker player Susie Zhao, authorities said.
The Pontiac man was arrested by White Lake Township cops at 9 a.m. Friday, according to the Detroit Free Press.
His name was not immediately released.
The suspect was pulled over on a warrant while driving west of Detroit in White Lake Township, police told the outlet, without yet providing a motive.
The 33-year-old rising star, known as “Susie Q,” had been living in Los Angeles, but moved to Michigan on June 9 to stay with her parents to “confront challenges in her personal life,” friends have said.
She was last seen alive by her mom, at around 5:30 p.m. on July 12.
At 8:05 a.m. the next morning, a passerby stumbled upon her badly burned corpse in a small parking lot used by hikers near the Pontiac Lake Recreation Area, on the outskirts of Detroit.
Her body appeared to have been set on fire where it was discovered, officials said.
From the outset, police have wondered if her death was connected to her choice of career.
“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,” Detective Chris Hild of White Lake Township Police told reporters July 23.
The Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office will review the case in the next few days, ClickOnDetroit reported Saturday.
She had no known conflicts in her personal life, her closest pals have said.
“It’s hard to picture her having enemies,” former roommate Yuval Bronshtein told reporters.
“Everybody loved her,” added friend Michelle Lagrou.
“Nobody ever remembers her fighting with anybody ever — no conflict, no drama.”
Originally from Beijing, China, Zhao had grown up in Troy, Mich., and played poker on a team while still a kid.
After graduating from Northwestern University with a degree in psychology, she began playing high-stakes games on the professional poker circuit.
And she was good at it, earning at least $224,671 since 2009.
She placed 90th out of 6,598 entrants at the 2012 World Series of Poker Main Event, walking away with more than $73,000 according to PokerNews.com. In 2017 in Los Angeles, she pocketed $16,000 in a single hand, WNEM-TV 5 reported.
In a social media posting Zhao had proudly touted her success as an outsider in a male-dominated profession.
“I prance like a unicorn in a sea of horses,” Zhao wrote in a Twitter profile.
“I proficiently play high stakes poker for a living. It’s kinda weird because I’m a girl.”