Perry was a senior at MIT at the time studying biological engineering, according to a school spokeswoman, Kimberly Allen.
In that period, Mr. Pan, the person of interest, a doctoral student in MIT’s Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. He enrolled there in September 2014, months after completing his undergraduate degree at the school, Ms. Allen said. He is also a researcher at the school’s laboratory for computer science and artificial intelligence.
Mrs. Perry said she and Mr. Jiang spent Saturday together. According to the New Haven Independent, they went fishing and cooked dinner in her apartment.
Some time after the murder, police officers in North Haven “came in contact” with Mr. Pan, who put him on government radar, Chief Reyes said. North Haven police did not know about the murder at the time. Chief Reyes did not provide further details, and North Haven police did not respond to a request for comment.
Officials said they did not believe Mr. Pan, from Malden, Massachusetts, is not yet in Connecticut. He was last seen at a Best Western hotel in North Haven, Conn., About eight miles northeast of the shooting incident.
Authorities searched Pan’s home Monday and did not locate him, a Massachusetts State Police spokesman said. Investigators in Connecticut on Thursday searched for evidence near an Arby’s and a car dealership on the same street as the Best Western.
The Marshals Service said it believed Mr. Pan with friends or family in Duluth, Ga., Or Brookhaven, Ga., Two suburbs of Atlanta, home. When he was last seen, he “wore a black backpack and acted strangely,” the marshals said.