Indiana state police have released an image of a suitcase with a distinctive Las Vegas design in which the body of a child was found earlier this week.
Following the autopsy, authorities believe the child was around five years old. The body belonged to a black boy who was around 4ft tall, with a slender built and short haircut.
The suitcase was found in dense woodland located in the eastern part of Washington County by a local resident who went mushroom hunting on Saturday, Newsweek reports.
Indiana 5-year-old found dead was stuffed into suitcasehttps://t.co/udISyneBd0
— WREG News Channel 3 (@3onyourside) April 19, 2022
Along with the photo, police wrote: “Tragically, the child was located inside a closed hard case suitcase.”
They believe that the child could be from any part of the country. “This obviously could be a national thing,” said Sergeant Carey Huls of the Indiana state police.
“It could be a child from any location. We’re not going to preclude anybody, and we’re going to look at any information that comes in that could answer the question of the identity of this child.”
#UPDATE: Indiana State Police just gave an update – they now say the body of the boy found in the woods in Washington County was in a suitcase (below). @WDRBNews pic.twitter.com/TI2AEez5EU
— Joel Schipper (@JSchipperWDRB) April 19, 2022
Authorities hope that the photo of the suitcase could potentially lead to more information about the deceased boy. So far, no further details have been revealed as the name and the identity of the boy remain a mystery.
The police is asking citizens to come forwards in case they are familiar with a missing child. They set up a tip line and have received around 200 calls so far, but none seems to be related to the case in question.
“We just need the public’s help in relaying this information,” Mr Huls said.
Right now, police are visiting locals schools within Washington County to see if there are cases of students at the age of five who have stopped attending school regularly recently.
We truly hope those responsible for this horrific case would get what they deserve.