Woman found dead inside suitcase brought to Kansas fire station, police launches homicide investigation

Lorretta M Moody, 67, was found dead inside a suitcase brought to a Wichita fire station by two people. Police are treating her death as a homicide and are working to establish what happened.

A 67-year-old woman whose body was found inside a suitcase at a Kansas fire station has been identified as Lorretta M Moody, as police continue to investigate her death as a homicide.

A 67-year-old woman's body found inside a suitcase

The discovery was made on the evening of 16 September at Wichita Fire Station 22, where two people arrived carrying a suitcase and told fire department personnel that it contained a body.

Wichita police said fire personnel requested an urgent police response at about 6.25 PM. Officers arrived at the station, located at 2659 S. Hydraulic, and found Moody inside the suitcase. She was pronounced dead at the scene before her body was taken to the Sedgwick County Medical Examiner's Office.

Police initially believed they knew the woman's identity but waited for fingerprint confirmation before releasing her name. On 18 September, authorities confirmed that the victim was Moody. She had previously been reported missing, adding another piece to a timeline investigators are now trying to reconstruct.

How was the suitcase found?

The circumstances surrounding the suitcase remain unclear.

The two people who brought it to Fire Station 22 have been interviewed by investigators. Police have not released their identities or said what relationship, if any, they had with Moody.

Detectives are working to determine how Moody and the two individuals were connected, as well as how and where she died. Investigators have been interviewing other people, reviewing evidence and working to establish a complete timeline of events.

Police have not publicly disclosed Moody's cause of death or said whether anyone has been arrested in connection with the case. ABC News reported that no arrests had been announced as of 18 September.

The unusual discovery has left several key questions unanswered. Authorities have not said when Moody died, where she was before the suitcase was brought to the fire station, or why the two individuals chose to take the suitcase there.

Police say there is no public threat

Despite the homicide investigation, Wichita police said they have no information indicating an ongoing threat to the public.

Detectives and crime-scene investigators worked through the night following the discovery and into the following morning. Police also canvassed the surrounding neighbourhood and said they were looking for additional witnesses and other locations that could be connected to the case.

The police department has urged anyone with information about Moody's death or the events surrounding the suitcase to contact its homicide investigators at 316-268-4407. The case is listed under number 26C179314.

For now, investigators are focused on piecing together what happened to Moody before her body arrived at the Wichita fire station. The identification has answered one important question, but much of the timeline remains under investigation.

Wichita police have said further information will be released when it can be made public without compromising the investigation.

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