Suitcase Holding Human Body Parts Found In SF Bay
Suitcase Holding Human Body Parts Found In SF Bay (CBS 5/BCN) SAN FRANCISCO San Francisco police were investigating Friday's discovery of human remains found in a suitcase that was floating in the water near the Golden Gate Bridge. The suitcase was reported in the area of Horseshoe Cove, just 500 yards from a U.S. Coast Guard station, but the Coast Guard could not respond to the call because the discovery did not fall in its jurisdiction, according to Coast Guard Petty Officer Josh Taylor. At about 1 p.m., a man in a sailboat called the Coast Guard to report that he had found a suitcase that appeared to contain human remains, Taylor said. The man said the suitcase was about 1,000 yards east and 500 yards south of the north footing of the Golden Gate Bridge, according to Taylor. That location is about 500 yards south of Coast Guard Station Golden Gate. "He was just out doing some sailing for the day and happened to come across a suitcase floating in the water," Taylor said. The man called the Coast Guard immediately, but that agency could not respond because the call came under the jurisdiction of the San Francisco Police Department, Taylor said. "The station is located in Marin (County)," Taylor said. "But once you get on the water there you're technically in the city and county of San Francisco." Coast Guard Station Golden Gate is primarily a search and rescue station, Taylor said, so even if the Coast Guard had retrieved the suitcase, it would not have had the means to investigate or process the item's contents. San Francisco police spokesman Sgt. Neville Gittens said police received a call at 2:15 p.m. reporting the incident. He said the sailor found the suitcase just inside the Golden Gate Bridge. Gittens said the man apparently took the suitcase aboard, discovered its contents, resealed it, and towed it behind his boat to another location, where he called the Coast Guard. "I heard they chopped the hands off and the head," said one fisherman who was nearby. Gittens said he did not know if the man found the case near Horseshoe Cove or if he towed it there. After receiving the call from the Coast Guard, the San Francisco Police Department's marine unit met with the man, picked up the suitcase and notified the homicide division and the San Francisco medical examiner's office, Gittens said. The medical examiner's office will conduct DNA tests to identify the remains, he said. Gittens said the Police Department could not release any further information. Bay City News Contributed To This Report (© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.) http://cbs5.com/topstories/local_story_013192311.html