By Rich Pollack
Delray Beach police on Monday sought assistance from the community in their efforts to learn more about how parts of a woman’s body stuffed into three suitcases ended up in the Intracoastal Waterway between Monday, July 17 and early Thursday, July 20.
“We’re asking for the public’s help in reviewing video surveillance cameras during that time frame,” said Detective Sgt. Casey Kelly.
Kelly said investigators are specifically looking for unusual vehicles or people and “certainly anyone carrying or moving luggage” anywhere from the Linton Boulevard bridge to just north of the George Bush Boulevard bridge.
The three suitcases were discovered Thursday afternoon, with the first one noticed by a construction worker who spotted a body part protruding from the luggage just south of the city’s northern city limits.
The two other suitcases were found near Casuarina Road and Southeast Seventh Avenue about 2 miles south of where the first suitcase was found.
Investigators say the victim in their homicide investigation is a white or Hispanic woman who was 35 to 55 years old with brown hair and about 5-feet-4-inches tall. She may also have had tattooed eyebrows. She was wearing a floral tank top and black mid-thigh shorts.
The tank top, Kelly said, is a unique brand believed to be from a Brazilian company.
Investigators received information about the case over the weekend, he said, but detectives continue to seek leads, including information about possible missing women matching the description.
Detectives declined to discuss a possible cause of death.
While teams from the police department are looking at surveillance video and any other related relevant information from the area, Kelly said the size of the area being covered makes that effort “a very daunting task.”
“The stretch of the waterway is very large, that’s why we’re asking for the public’s help,” he said. “We’re asking the public to do some of the legwork for us.”
Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Mike Liberta at 561-243-7874.
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