OAKLAND, Calif. – A body was discovered stuffed into a discarded suitcase by volunteers cleaning a lake in Northern California on Halloween.
Volunteer Kevin Shomo said they used small nets to retrieve the piece of luggage that was spotted on the edge of Lake Merritt in Oakland about 11 a.m. on Tuesday during cleanup duties, KTVU reported.
“We grabbed one end and we realized it was too heavy. So we pulled it close enough to us and we said, ‘Oh wow, this thing is heavy,’” Shomo said.
“So we unzipped it … and that’s what we found,” he said of the grisly discovery of a male adult wedged inside “kind of like in a fetal position. I was surprised it was a body in there.”
The unnamed victim appeared to be in his 30s, according to witnesses, the New York Post reported.
Capt. Alan Yu with the Oakland Police Department confirmed the discovery, saying it was unclear when the suitcase was dumped.
“Part of the investigation is trying to determine where the body was, … could have floated from,” Yu told KTVU. “It could be any part of the lake, and we’re looking at all those possible outcomes.”
Law enforcement officials confirmed the case is being investigated as a homicide, with the victim’s identity withheld pending family notification, CBS Bay Area reported.
Authorities have not disclosed if the man matches anyone who was reported missing.
Nearby residents were shook by the morbid discovery at a location deemed a local oasis with a popular path for walkers and joggers.
“It’s really scary for me, for a body to be around the neighborhood here, it’s really scary,” local resident Angela Massella said.
Another resident, Gerlen Polk, was also disturbed by the crime scene at a location where she regularly walks.
“A body in the lake?” she said. “What the hell.”
