Young Woman Identified After Backpack With Human Remains Was Found In A Dumpster Behind Virginia Store
Police are still investigating.
Chesterfield County Police Virginia police are investigating after a blood-covered backpack, reportedly stuffed with human remains was found in a dumpster behind a store.
Police released photos of the young woman they believe to be the suspect, causing her images to spread across social media.
The human remains were discovered in a backpack at a Virginia store.
An employee who works for a store in the Victoria Square shopping mall in Chesterfield County found the backpack and immediately contacted the police.
Chesterfield County police investigated “the suspicious incident” when they found “what appeared to be human remains” inside the backpack.
“An employee saw the young lady put something in the dumpster, and thought it was odd,” Chesterfield police Maj. Michael Louth said Tuesday. The employee “subsequently went out there and saw the book bag, and it had some blood on it.”
Security cameras captured footage of the woman entering the store.
Police released photographs of the suspected young woman walking into the store, which was captured by the store’s surveillance cameras.
Witnesses reported that the woman entered Gabe’s discount store without the backpack before leaving the area.
On Monday, the police released images of the suspect and a statement that “At about 1:50 p.m. today, police responded to a report that an unknown female had placed a backpack in a dumpster behind a store several hours earlier.”
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Police remained at the scene of the crime from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. that day.
Chesterfield police have identified the woman.
Approximately 16 hours after the images were released, Chesterfield police addressed in a brief email that they have identified the woman in the pictures.
“The investigation is ongoing. We have no additional information to release at this time,” police said.
It was also reported that evidence in the backpack may have lead investigators to a local high school but this may also be speculation.
Some reports claim the backpack contained a baby's remains.
Sources reported that they believe the human remains may be a baby’s body, although there has been no official confirmation.
Louth declined to comment on this speculation.
“I’m just going to stick to possible human remains until I can have it verified,” he said.
Once a medical examiner has a chance to complete an autopsy and verify whether or not this is true, the information will be confirmed.
Louth also added that, in addition to investigating the details of the incident, police wanted to check on the woman's wellbeing, “to make sure she’s OK and doesn’t need any medical attention.”
Izzy Casey is a writer who covers pop culture, news, and entertainment for YourTango. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from the Iowa Writers' Workshop. Her work has been published in Gulf Coast: A Journal of Literature and Fine Arts, The Iowa Review, BOAAT, The Columbia