The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) brought a Tarzana man into custody after a dismembered human torso was discovered in a plastic bag Wednesday, according to local reports.
Officers from the LAPD arrested Samuel Haskell after the torso was found near a dumpster in Encino, according to ABC7. The suspect is being held on $2 million bail.
“A dismembered female wrapped in a plastic bag. It was just outside the dumpster,” LAPD Det. Efren Gutierrez told reporters at a press conference.
A homeless person found the torso while searching for recyclables around the dumpster at roughly 6:15 a.m., the outlet reported. Police have not yet identified the victim.
Surveillance footage from the strip mall near Ventura Boulevard and Rubio Avenue presented evidence leading to Haskell, according to ABC7. Officers reportedly discovered evidence, including blood, at the suspect’s house upon searching the property.
A witness reported seeing a body in a black bag near the suspect’s home the night before the torso was found, the outlet reported. However, law enforcement couldn’t corroborate the allegations when they responded to the scene. (RELATED: REPORT: 22-Year-Old’s Body Found Stuffed In Suitcase)
“I think it was kind of weird to drive up and be blocked off along the boulevard and into the little center over here and to find out that there were body parts there … in Encino!” one resident told the outlet. “We’ve had a lot of crime in Encino over the last couple of months.”
Haskell’s wife, Mei Haskell, and her parents, identified as Yanxiang Wang and Gaoshen Li, are missing, according to ABC7. LAPD accounted for the couple’s three children at school before the Department of Children and Family Services took them into safe custody.