NOEL, Mo.—Investigators believe a dead woman was stuffed into a suitcase and thrown from a moving vehicle, landing near a road in rural southwest Missouri.
McDonald County Sheriff Michael Hall says a bicyclist discovered the woman’s decomposing remains Monday along a state highway between the towns of Noel and Ginger Blue, about 80 miles southwest of Springfield.
Hall said Tuesday that investigators believe the suitcase was apparently tossed from a vehicle and then rolled down a hill. He says it appears the woman’s body eventually fell out of the suitcase as it deteriorated.
Authorities have not identified the woman, or said how and when she died. Hall says she was in her 20s or 30s. An autopsy is being conducted to determine her identity and cause of death.
Man Whose Remains Were Found in Suitcase Identified
In a similar story, a suitcase with human remains inside was found near a creek in Indianapolis on May 27.
The victim is identified as 56-year-old Larry Terry.
The Marion County coroner says an autopsy shows that the man was strangled before his remains were stuffed into a suitcase and left alongside a creek in Indianapolis.
A man whose remains were found in a suitcase earlier this year in Indianapolis was strangled, according to the coroner. https://t.co/dYSHuVJSOl
— RTV6 Indianapolis (@rtv6) July 11, 2019
WRTV-TV reported that the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department is investigating Terry’s death as a homicide.
Police have said several people were walking along Bean Creek on the city’s southeast side May 27 when they found the suitcase, about 2½ miles from Terry’s home.
Police say a relative had reported Terry missing on March 12.
Police are investigating after human remains were found in a suitcase off of Villa Ave. pic.twitter.com/Npu2ZOuC5g
— Haley Bull (@HaleyBullNews) May 27, 2019
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.”
DEVELOPING: Body found in suitcase in a creek on Indianapolis’s southeast side. Police are on scene on Villa Avenue, not far from Beech Grove. @rtv6
— Marc Mullins (@MarcMullins1) May 27, 2019
NTD reporter Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.