Dismembered Body Found Inside Lower East Side Condo
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A dismembered body was found inside a Lower East Side condo Tuesday.
The medical examiner and crime scene unit were still at 265 East Houston Street hours after the gruesome discovery.
CBS2 has been told a man in his 30s was found butchered inside one of the units. Shocked residents were outside watching for hours as detectives worked to figure out what happened.
Police received a 911 call around 3:30 p.m. after the victim's sister went to check on him and made the discovery.
Leslie Feinberg is co-owner of the Subject cocktail bar across the street from the building.
"I saw a young woman in the lobby speaking with a number of police officer very clearly really, really distressed," Feinberg told CBS2's Alice Gainer.
Police sources say they found a decapitated torso and other remains in black trash bags. An electric saw was found nearby.
Sources also say there is evidence of a struggle and there is surveillance video of a person of interest entering the building with his face covered, carrying a package or bag they believe contained the saw.
All afternoon and into the evening, detectives poured in and out of the luxury condo building and were seen on the seventh floor.
Police say the man was seen alive Monday on video footage and believe he was killed sometime in the last 24 hours.
"Seems like that's a pretty secure unit, too, so it's pretty terrifying," one person said.
"This is a tight-knit neighborhood. I would say the majority of the people in the building come to the bar. We know a lot of them. If nothing else, at least we know their faces. We recognize them, we say hello, that kind of thing," Feinberg said. "It's just tragic. It's horrible. Particularly in the midst of so much tragedy already, it's just horrible."
Police have not released the identity of the victim.
The motive remains unclear, and so far, no arrests have been made.
