Human Remains Discovered in 3 Different Suitcases in Florida, Police Say

Human remains of one woman were discovered inside three separate suitcases in Delray Beach, Florida, on Friday, according to police.

“At 4:03 p.m., Delray Beach Police Department received a 911 call of a suspicious item in the water along the intracoastal waterway near the 1000-block of Palm Trail in Delray Beach,” the department wrote in a statement on Friday. “When officers arrived, they found a suitcase with human remains inside.”

“A short time later, two other suitcases were found also containing human remains at nearby locations along the intracoastal (SE 7th Avenue and Casuarina Road),” the department continued. “At this early stage of the investigation, the remains appear to belong to one unidentified adult female. The victim’s remains were taken to the medical examiner’s office.”

In a follow-up statement on Facebook, the Delray Beach Police Department wrote that the remains belong to “a white or hispanic middle aged woman with brown hair” who is approximately 5’4″ tall. The unidentified woman may also have had “tattooed eyebrows” and was “wearing a floral tank top with a black undershirt and black mid-thigh shorts.” Authorities also provided a photo of the floral shirt.

Police said that the woman — estimated to be between 35 and 55 years old — may have been placed in the waterway as early as July 17 or as late as Thursday.

The Delray Beach Police held a press conference on Monday about the discovery.

“We’re asking for the public’s help with reviewing video surveillance cameras during that timeframe,” Sergeant Casey Kelly said. “We ask that you specifically look for unusual vehicles or people and certainly anyone carrying or moving luggage.”

“The stretch of waterway is very large — and that’s part of why we’re meeting with the public today and asking for the public’s help to review some of that,” Kelly continued. “We have started but it’s a very daunting task, so we’re asking for the public to do some of that legwork for us and to please call anything in that they would find unusual on the video surveillance from the timeframe.”

Kelly asked the public to look out for any strange vehicles, people, or anyone who was carrying or moving luggage during that time, per the press conference. The area of interest is about a mile long, he said.

“From what we can tell, we believe it to be an isolated incident,” Kelly added, noting that there was no indication the incident involved human trafficking, the drug trade or domestic violence. “We have received information over the weekend, but we’re looking into every single lead,” he added.

Anyone with information about this crime is asked to call Delray Beach Police Detective Mike Liberta at 561-243-7874.

Liberta was not able to comment and the Delray Beach Police Department was not able to immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.