San Francisco police on Wednesday, Jan. 28, discovered dismembered human body parts that were stuffed inside a suitcase left on a sidewalk.
Prior to the discovery, the police received a call about a suspicious package that was ditched on 11th Street between Market and Mission streets, prompting them to investigate. The suitcase was found after 4:30 p.m. amid garbage and debris.
Once the package was opened, the police made a very unpleasant discovery: the suitcase contained human body parts. Besides the human remains, there were also other items that were found around the suitcase.
The police then proceeded searching the South of Market neighborhood, where they found other body parts in three more locations within a three-block radius.
Police spokeswoman Grace Gatpandan said that the city medical examiner confirmed that the parts that were found were human remains albeit it is yet to be determined whether or not these belonged to one or several victims. Gatpandan also said that the gender and race of the victim are unknown.
Although identifying the dismembered victim may seem difficult, there are technologies available today that could make this possible.
Last year, genetic testing confirmed that badly decomposing human remains that were discovered near the Pacific beach resort of Zihuatanejo belonged to Harry Devert, a stock trader from Pelham, New York.
The police are treating the case as a homicide and detectives have been trying to recover surveillance videos from nearby businesses so as to find leads to the suspect.
Gatpandan said that the investigators already have a rough description of the suspect albeit the police will not release this information as the investigation is still ongoing. The police are also reportedly searching for the person of interest in the case.
"We do have people of interest that homicide investigators are speaking to," Gatpandan said.
Gatpandan said that investigators are continuing with their search in case there are more body parts that are yet to be found in the area. She said that, although there is only one crime scene, it is very large.
"Investigators are still searching to determine if there are any other body parts in the area," Gatpandan said. "This was an extremely gruesome crime scene."
The street, where the roller-type suitcase that was stuffed with gruesome human remains was found, is in an area with a big number of homeless people. It is also only a block away from the Twitter headquarters.
