Police are searching for information in the murder of a young child after a corpse was found in the rural Washington County area.
The body of a young boy, who is believed to have died within the past week, was discovered by a mushroom hunter in the woods in Indiana on Saturday.
The forager stumbled upon the body around 7:30 p.m. on Saturday evening near a roadway in a heavily wooded area of eastern Washington County, the Indiana State Police said in a statement.
The local resident immediately called 911 and the Washington County Sheriff’s Department responded to the scene before state cops were called to investigate.
Indiana State Police are asking the public for help identifying the body of a young, male victim whose body was found stashed in a suitcase. The victim is black and estimated to be approximately five years-old. Investigators are still unsure of the victim’s cause of death. A toxicology report is still pending.
“An autopsy was conducted on Tuesday; however, no information as to the cause of death was determined,” the ISP wrote in a report on the incident. “Results of the toxicology report are still pending, and investigators are hopeful that information will shed more light on the cause of death. “
The suitcase the child’s body was found inside bears a distinctive “Las Vegas” design. It is a hard case piece of luggage with wheels and a roller handle.
Police described the child as a 4-foot tall black boy between the age of 5 and 8 with a slim build and short hair.
“Somebody was taking care of him. He was in somebody’s custody and care for his daily needs and for support,” Sgt. Carey Huls stated in a Monday press conference. “Somebody knows something. Somebody out there knows the answer to this question.”
Thus far, no one has been able to provide the police with information helpful to the case.
