Bodies Found in Suitcases in Wisconsin; 2 Mystery Corpses Remain Unidentified
The bodies found in suitcases in Wisconsin Thursday have not yet been identified, but the gruesome discovery has left residents of the small, rural town of Geneva shaken. The two unknown victims were apparently killed at a different location before being stuffed into the luggage and left in a grassy ditch on the side of the highway.
The bodies found in suitcases in Wisconsin were discovered by chance at about 3 p.m. Highway workers had been cutting the grass on the side of the highway and moved the suitcases to continue their job. A passing driver spotted the suitcases and called police, who arrived shortly thereafter to find a horrific scene.
It's "very abnormal," town Police Chief Steven Hurley told the Associated Press. "It's a very quiet town, a close-knit town. Everybody knows everybody else."
The Waukesha County Medical Examiner's Office performed preliminary autopsies not long afterwards, but nothing has been revealed about the bodies. Investigators have been cross-checking with other law enforcement organizations to see if the bodies match missing persons' reports.
Residents of the town of about 4,000 are troubled by the news.
"I feel very uncomfortable," Alysia Olcott, 19, told AP. "I thought this was a nice little area. I never thought it would happen here. Was this a crime committed further away or was it (committed) close to home? It's pretty disturbing."
It "scares me," said 29-year-old Jessica Finster. "There are bodies in suitcases right down the street from where I work. It's kind of creepy. It's like 'CSI.' But that doesn't happen around here. I've never heard of someone in a suitcase left on the side of the road except in a fictional story."
Hurley confirmed that the town hasn't seen a case like this at all recently.
"In the town of Geneva, in recent history, there haven't been any homicides. I don't know if there's ever been a homicide" he told The Los Angeles Times Friday. It's "a very quiet community. We've got a pretty low crime rate here."