The Federal Bureau of Investigation has joined the probe into the mysterious murders of an Andhra student and her cousin in the state of Missouri in United States.
The body of Soumya Tummala, a 22-year-old electrical engineering student at Southern Illinois University, was spotted by passers-by inside a car near the Sunfish Lake boat ramp in Spanish Lake area at about 8.30 am on Sunday.
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Detectives searching the area for clues found the body of Vikram Kumar Tummala, 27, in the lake three hours later with bullet wounds. His wallet was found by investigators in the car where Soumya's body was found slouched.
The Ford Taurus car was registered in Vikram's name.
The FBI has joined the probe with the police in St Louis County, who on Tuesday said they were trying to determine the exact nature of the relationship between the two.
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Officials said at present they have characterised the relationship between the two as 'cousins'.
There are a number of factors that the police have based their determination on including the proximity of where the two bodies were found.
Greg Conroy, the Director of Public Affairs at the Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville which Soumya was attending as a graduate student, maintained that the Vikram is not currently enrolled in the university.
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Out of a total student population of about 13,500, the international student population in the university numbered 359 as of January 2008, including 167 from India, he said.
Local media reports said Soumya and Vikram lived at different addresses in Maryville, Illinois.
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