A human body wrapped in trash bags and covered in flies was found Friday on a Kips Bay street, locals and authorities said.
According to police sources, cops from the 13th Precinct were alerted to a suspicious package on 27th Street and Third Avenue at 4:53 p.m. Arriving officers discovered a person inside a zipped sleeping bag and pronounced them dead. Law enforcement did not provide the gender or age of the remains.
A nearby resident told amNewYork Metro that she spotted the sleeping bag wrapped in garbage bags and noticed flies flocking to what she described as a bloated mass.
“I walked by and turned around, there were flies swarming all over it. And I saw what that looked like a ribcage,” Rian Robbins said. “They were cleaning out the building, so I was like maybe it’s some old thing they threw out.”
Robbins also notes that the remains was left lying on what appeared to be a cart.
“It was on a rolling cart that was tied to the thing,” Robbins said. “It was big and bloated like it had been in water.”
Sources close to the investigation reported that they believed the corpse had been on the street since early that morning as residents reported smelling a foul odor.
Crime scene units could be observed combing over the area well into Saturday morning.
The chief medical examiner will determine the cause of death.
The investigation remains ongoing.
Anyone with information regarding this incident can call Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS (for Spanish, dial 888-57-PISTA). You can also submit tips online at crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, or on X (formerly Twitter) @NYPDTips. All calls and messages are kept confidential.
