DELRAY BEACH, FLORIDA: Authorities have launched an extensive investigation to determine the identity of a woman, whose remains were found stuffed inside duffel bags in two separate incidents in Florida and Texas. The Delray Beach Police Department in Florida reported that on Friday, July 21, they received a 911 call concerning a suspicious object floating in the Intracoastal Waterway.
Upon their arrival, officials discovered a suspicious suitcase in the water, which they said contained dismembered human remains. Following an initial investigation, they found two other suitcases nearby, which also contained body parts. “At this early stage of the investigation, the remains appear to belong to one unidentified adult female,” police said in an incident report. This came just a day after the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office in Texas received a call reporting a suspicious object found discarded on a property. The call was made by the residents who were feeding animals on a property when they noticed the luggage on the lawn.
Who is the Duffel Bag victim?
When deputies arrived, they discovered human remains inside the duffel bag, Sheriff Javier Salazar said at a news conference. "There wasn't really a whole lot of effort to hide the body, other than it was inside a suitcase," he said, adding "The first inclination, of course, is to assume that it's a homicide scene. At this point, all we really know is that we've got partial human remains out there." Investigators also spotted what looked to be attempts to burn something near the residence, but Salazar warned that neighbors may have simply been burning rubbish. 'It's just too early to tell if the person was killer here, or if they were brought here in that piece of luggage and then dumped here," he said, according to Daily Mail.
Police have classified the death as a homicide and reported on Sunday, July 23, that the remains are those of an unidentified adult female, possibly white or Hispanic, in her forties, with brown hair and standing around 5-foot-4-inches tall. They also noted that the victim may have had tattooed eyebrows, and was wearing a floral tank top with a black undershirt and black mid-thigh shorts. The area of interest in the investigation includes two bridges: The Linton Boulevard Bridge and the George Bush Boulevard Bridge. Authorities said at the conference that they believe the luggage was put into the water between Monday, July 17, and Thursday, July 20.
'It’s very scary'
As the investigation continues, many Delray Beach residents are turning to their outdoor security footage in search of clues that may help authorities track down the suspect. “We’re all neighbors,” Delray Beach resident Bonita Hureau told CBS12 News, adding “We want to live in a safe environment and we have to help each other.” Hureau noted that she has checked her doorbell to see if she could find anything suspicious. “I came out Sunday morning and they had the divers out front in the Intracoastal in front of our property, so that’s why I wanted to see if I could identify anything or anyone that drove by Friday to see if I could help. It’s very scary. People here are a little rocked, knowing that this happened right in our own backyard,” she said.
