The dismembered remains found in two duffel bags along Kaohsiung’s Love River (愛河) this week were yesterday identified as belonging to an elderly man, police said
Two sanitation workers from the Kaohsiung Environmental Protection Bureau found one bag floating in the water while cleaning the river banks on Monday, police said.
They took it to a nearby garbage depot, and then found a similar black duffel bag on the river the next day.
Photo: Chen Wen-chan, Taipei Times
After seeing traces of blood leaking from the second bag, one worker opened it and found decomposing human remains.
A forensic examination found that the victim was a man, aged 70 to 80, who was about 1.6m tall and weighed more than 80kg, said Weng Shih-min (翁士閔), captain of the investigation unit at the Sanmin First Precinct.
Police are focusing on missing persons reports in the city and going through surveillance camera footage to see if there has been any suspicious activity along the river’s banks in the past few days, Weng said.
He appealed to the public for help, urging people to check up on older family members.
“We believe the victim was killed about three days ago, as the body parts were waterlogged and starting to decompose, but not too badly,” Weng said.
Samples were taken from the remains for evidence and DNA testing, as well as fingerprints, he said, adding that the results would be available in the next few days.
The case would be investigated as a homicide, as investigators found bruises and the internal organs were ruptured, indicating that the victim was severely beaten before he died, Weng said.
The killer or killers tried to cover up the crime by placing a dumbell in each bag to weigh the bags down, he added.
Investigators speculated that the victim might have been beaten to death because of a financial dispute or unpaid gambling debts.
In related news, Taipei police said that a body was found floating in Sindian River (新店溪) yesterday morning.
The body was identified as a man surnamed Chen (陳), who was in his 70s.
He had been living with his family in New Taipei City and a suicide note was found, police said.
Chen’s body was found floating near Yongfu Bridge (永福橋) that connects Taipei and New Taipei City’s Yonghe District (永和), police said.
Chen likely drowned himself after he left home on Tuesday, as his family said that he had a chronic illness and depression, police said.
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