Body of young child found in duffle bag in West Philadelphia: police
PHILADELPHIA - Philadelphia police are investigating after a disturbing discovery was made Monday morning.
CLIP workers found a black duffle bag with juvenile remains inside while picking up trash in an alleyway on the 600 block of North 38th Street.
Police say they confirmed that the body was a child aged 2–4 years old when officers arrived at the scene.
"Who would have thought that right behind our home there's an innocent 2-4-year-old baby gone," one neighbor said.
It is unclear how long the child's body was inside the bag, but police believe it was "probably a while."
"The child was in a poor state of decomposition," said Philadelphia Police Inspector Kpana Massaquoi.
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The child's identity and exact age is not yet known.
However, police say they will investigate whether the body is possibly connected to any missing children cases in the area once their identity is determined.
The discovery of the body occurred just a few blocks from the 3800 block of Reno Street, where, back in January, police said they executed a search warrant in connection to a missing four-year-old boy, identified by family members as Damari Carter.
Although Damari’s body was never found, investigators say they charged Carter's mother, 28-year-old Dominique Bailey, and 30-year-old Kevin Spencer with his murder, among other charges.
Damari’s cousin told FOX 29 Monday that they are still waiting to hear from investigators to find out if the body found belongs to the four-year-old.
The city's homicide department, special victim's unit and medical examiner are all currently investigating.