Sources: Body In Schuylkill River May Be Missing Atlantic City Mother
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - A case of a missing mother led police to the banks of the Schuylkill.
A woman's body was pulled from the river and investigators are working to see if they have a match. Police sources say they are looking into the possibility that the body may be that of a 19-year-old, abducted in a violent home invasion in Atlantic City last month. (see related story)
Eyewitness News captured exclusive video of police pulling the body out of the water.
Police say a cyclist out for a ride along the Schuylkill called 911 after spotting it floating in the river.
When police arrived, they recovered the body and sources say it was badly decomposed. But they know it is an African-American female.
Sources also tell Eyewitness News there was duct tape on her face and a handcuff on one of her ankles. Sources feel the body could have been in the water for as long as three weeks.
The discovery brought investigators from Atlantic City and the Atlantic County Prosecutor's office along with the FBI to Philadelphia, all wondering if this could be 19-year-old Nadirah Ruffin, a mother of a four-year-old boy, who has been missing since March 26th.
Police say that's when Nadirah was abducted at gunpoint by three men and a woman, all wearing masks, who forced their way into her cousin's Atlantic City home.
The Ruffins could not be reached for comment on Tuesday, but Eyewitness News talked to Nadirah's mother, Fonda, the day after the reported abduction.
"Somebody knocked on the door and they asked who was it? And they said they're expecting us. They duct taped everybody," Fonda Ruffin said.
The family told Eyewitness News, Nadirah was with four other women at the time, but she was the only one taken out of the home at gunpoint. Those who know Nadirah well, say they have no idea why she was targeted and that no one has seen or heard from her since.
Police say a positive identification will be made by the medical examiner who will also determine the exact cause of death. An autopsy is scheduled to be performed on Wednesday.
Reported By Elizabeth Hur, CBS 3
