2 Different Victims In Case Of Body Parts Found In Sewers
WARREN (WWJ/AP) - Body parts found in a Warren sewer in December came from a woman, but not the same woman whose partial remains were discovered in a nearby community's sewer line during the summer, police said Friday.
A DNA analysis of the two fleshy pieces found Dec. 20 by sewer contractors in Warren determined they belonged to a white woman, said Warren Police Commissioner Jere Green.
"The DNA profiles do not match with the DNA profiles of the body parts that were recovered in Sterling Heights back in August and they also indicated two different persons," Green told WWJ Newsradio 950's Beth Fisher. "So, that kind of adds a new twist to where we are with the investigation."
Still, the gruesome find of the pieces, which measured about 4-by-4 inches and 1 1/2 inches thick, was eerily similar to the discovery in Sterling Heights.
On Aug. 15, 10 fleshy parts approximately the size of a softball had become snagged on a platform used by workers about 60 feet beneath the road. An autopsy determined the parts belonged to a heavy-set white woman, and some of them had portions of a tattoo.
Green said both women have yet to be identified and, at least for now, investigators are treating each case as a homicide. A check of FBI databases did not yield matches for the DNA of the body parts found in the two cities, and missing persons reports also have not provided clues.
"It's an unusual case," Green said. "There is no investigative blueprint how to solve this."
Green asks anyone who knows of someone missing or who recognizes the tattoo from the Sterling Heights case to contact Warren police at 586-575-4877. (View a photo of the tattoo here - Please note: Image at link shows actual human remains and may be disturbing).
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