Los Angeles, Mar 28 (IANS): Human remains found in a shallow grave are believed to be of missing Hollywood actress Adea Shabani, police said.

On Tuesday morning, the Nevada county sheriff's Office and their coroner's division discovered the remains of a woman in a shallow grave in the Spenceville Wildlife Area in Penn Valley, California, reports people.com.

At a press conference on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) told the media: "At this point in time, we believe that those remains are the body of Adea Shabani.

"We cannot say that conclusively at this point in time because the condition of the remains prohibited positive identification," he said. He said police believed Christopher Spotz, a man authorities identified as Shabani's boyfriend, was "somehow involved in her death".

An autopsy on the body will be performed in which the identity, cause and manner of death will be determined.

"We believe it to be a homicide. However, until the conclusion of the autopsy… we won't be able to determine that definitively," the spokesperson added.