A young woman's body was found Wednesday in a black suitcase on a street in downtown San Diego.
The suitcase and body, were discovered just after 11 a.m. near the intersection of Seventh Avenue and A Street, when a man who lives nearby saw the suitcase on the ground, San Diego police said.
“He looked at it, determined that it looked a little suspicious and that’s when he called police,” SDPD Lt. Ray Valentin said.
“I was taking out the garbage and I went around to the back of the building and saw a black garbage can, one of them was turned over,” the man who found the suitcase told NBC 7. He preferred to not give his name.
“I dropped it and looked down and saw hair, black hair coming out...because it was zipped up, but you could still see the hair,” he said.
Officers discovered a woman's body in the suitcase. There was no information given on the cause of death.
Valentin said it was difficult to assess the woman's age. The San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office was called to the scene to conduct an investigation.
SDPD homicide detectives have closed off the street as they try to locate possible witnesses. They estimate the closure will be in effect until approximately 6 p.m.
“There are a lot of windows that look down into the parking lot of where the suitcase was located. Detectives will be combing those locations to see what they find,“ Valentin said.
He added that no missing persons reports had been filed since the discovery of the body.
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Several residents gathered near the crime scene hoping to be allowed back into their homes. Some were unsettled by the news.
“Scary as hell,” resident David Bloomer said. “Just goes to show when you think things are safe they’re usually not. Frightening when you consider the perimeter, it’s very close to our living situation.”
Bloomer said he and his wife are expecting a child and they often call police to have homeless people moved away from their front door. He described the area as unsafe.
James Clark said the block where he lives is close to the Gaslamp Quarter and not what one would consider a bad area.
“Everybody is usually very friendly when we come outside,” Clark said. “I would never expect something that horrific to happen here.”
No other information was immediately available.
Anyone with information related to this incident can call the San Diego Police Department’s Homicide Unit or Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.
Check back for updates on this breaking news story.
