Elderly woman's body found in suitcase at Russia playground

2012-03-29 22:08:43 GMT+7 (ICT)

ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA (BNO NEWS) -- Police in the Russian city of Saint Petersburg have launched a murder investigation after the body of an elderly woman was found stuffed inside a suitcase at a local playground, officials said.

A spokesperson for Russia's Investigative Committee said the suitcase was discovered on early Thursday morning at a playground along a street in northeast St. Petersburg. "The suitcase contained the body of an unidentified elderly woman with no visible signs of a violent death," the spokesperson said.

Investigators believe the victim was about 70 years old, but no documents have been found inside the suitcase which could help identify the woman. It was not immediately known how long the suitcase had been at the playground, when the woman may have died, or what was the cause of death.

Thursday's discovery comes just days after a street cleaner found a suitcase containing a woman's body near a garbage container in northern Moscow. The woman had been decapitated, her hands tied behind her back, and police later arrested the victim's friend on suspicion of committing the murder.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2012-03-29

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