New leads in the investigation of a missing University of North Dakota student have led police officials to believe that the female is most likely dead, the Associate Press reported Tuesday.

Traces of blood from the missing woman, Dru Sjodin, were discovered in the automobile of Alfonso Rodriguez, Jr., the suspected perpetrator. The student’s DNA was taken from a toothbrush and compared to the small amount of blood in Rodriguez’s car.

Grand Forks County Sheriff Dan Hill also told the Associated Press that one of Sjodin’s shoes was found by searchers, and as of yet, is the only piece of material evidence recovered.

Despite this news, the family of Sjodin has remained positive and maintains that Sjodin will in fact be found alive.

Rodriguez, a convicted rapist, has declared his innocence in the crime, and stated in an affidavit that he was at a mall watching the movie “Once Upon a Time in Mexico” at the alleged time of the kidnapping. Police, however, said the movie was not playing at that time.

Police officials, volunteers and investigators have been searching for Sjodin since Nov. 22, when she disappeared after leaving her job at a mall in Grand Forks.

The Associated Press also reported that police discovered a knife in the trunk of Rodriguez’s car that matched a sheath found near Sjodin’s car.