Body found in Minnesota believed to be missing college student

MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) - A farmer harvesting a field in west-central Minnesota found remains believed to be those of an 18-year-old college student missing for nearly two weeks, authorities said on Tuesday.

Laura Ann Schwendemann, a freshman at the University of Minnesota, Morris, was last seen on the evening of Oct. 14 at a gas station in Alexandria, Minnesota, in a car with a man who is now a focus of the investigation into what happened to her.

The farmer found the remains, preliminarily identified as a female in her late teens or early 20s, on Monday afternoon, the Douglas County Sheriff's Office said.

"We have reason to believe that we have located Laura Ann Schwendemann, however we are awaiting further information from the Midwest Medical Examiner's Office," Sheriff Troy Wolbersen said in a statement.

Wolbersen said the focus has shifted to why and how she died and investigators are aggressively pursuing leads.

The sheriff's office has interviewed a male who she knew and is the last known person to see Schwendemann, authorities said. The person is now a focus of the investigation, they said.

Schwendemann was last confirmed seen leaving the gas station on Oct. 14 with that person in a black 1997 Geo Prism, the sheriff's office said.

"We all prayed so hard for a much better outcome ... we all wanted to find Laura safe ... this wasn't to be," Beth Aaberg, a relative, posted on the Facebook page "Keep Your Porch Light on for Laura Schwendemann" focused on finding her.

(Reporting by David Bailey in Minneapolis; Editing by Will Dunham)