Police Hunt for Clues After Body Discovered Inside Suitcase

Published: 5/28/2019, 3:59:45 PM EDT

Police Hunt for Clues After Body Discovered Inside Suitcase — Crime scene tape with police car lights. (Geralt/Pixabay)

A suitcase with human remains inside was found near a creek in Indianapolis, triggering a search for clues and an attempt to identify the victim.

Indianapolis Metropolitan Police responded to a call about the suitcase after one of three or four people walking along Bean Creek opened the suitcase and discovered the remains, officer Genae Cook told the Indy Star.

Homicide investigators started a probe as the Marion County coroner's office started trying to figure out the identity of the human remains.

Cook said the victim was not a baby but didn't have any other details about the victim, including the manner of death.

She said that the investigation is currently into a death and that officers can't deem the death suspicious as of yet.

“Just the fact that having a body in a suitcase is suspicious enough, how the person died, I don’t know,” Cook told Fox 59. “Regardless of how the person died, nobody deserves to be put inside a suitcase.”

The Bean Creek Neighborhood Association said in a statement that it would "generate more concrete facts via email to our Bean Creek neighbors" after receiving more information from the police.

"In the meantime as a neighborhood, we will let IMPD do their investigation without interfering with the process. They are very good about keeping us informed and also letting us know what information we are allowed to circulate without putting the case in jeopardy. This is our usual neighborhood protocol," the association added.

"Bean Creek neighbors are always very saddened by these situations and we would like our folks to know that we do care and that we are in good hands with our South District IMPD.”

Najah Ferrell Case

It wasn't clear if the victim was linked to the Najah Ferrell case, or any other case involving a missing person. Police did not give an update on Tuesday.

Ferrell, a 30-year-old mother, was last seen on March 15 leaving for work. She never made it there and police found some of her belongings on a highway in Indianapolis in addition to her Nissan Altima.

Avon Police Department Deputy Chief Brian Nugent said on May 1 that a severed human foot found in a pond in April belonged to the missing mother.

He said that someone was involved.

"It's a very disturbing a case of this magnitude. A mother of 5 just simply vanishes. It doesn’t just happen on its own. Somebody has some involvement," Nugent said, reported Fox 59.

An undated photo of missing Najah Ferrell, 30, with her two children in Avon, Ind. (Courtesy of Avon Indiana Police Department) — An undated photo of missing Najah Ferrell, 30, with her two children in Avon, Ind. Courtesy of Avon Indiana Police Department

He said that investigators were working on putting the case together.

A search continued until last week, when Nugent told the Star that it was suspended after days were spent looking in a pond on the west side for clues.

Brown Township Fire-Rescue, Avon Police Department, and Indiana Task Force One were searching the water at The Boardwalk at Westlake Apartment.

Boats and a cadaver dog were utilized.

Police requested after the foot was found that the public contact Crime Stoppers Indiana at (371) 262-TIPS if they have any information. Police said after the suitcase was found that anyone with information about it should call Crime Stoppers at that number.