Heartbreaking detail emerges about 2 dead young girls found stuffed inside suitcases in Cleveland park

Two young girls whose butchered bodies were found stuffed inside suitcases at an Ohio park were half-sisters, a medical examiner revealed Wednesday.

A dog-walker stumbled across the “juvenile black females,” who are believed to be between the ages of 8 and 14 years old, when his testy pooch refused to move off of a mound of dirt near a playground in Cleveland on Monday evening.

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Two girls found dead and stuff inside suitcases near a Cleveland park were half-sisters.FOX 8 Cleveland
The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office did not reveal a firm cause of death in the suspect homicide Wednesday, but it did confirm the victims were half-sisters, Cleveland 19 reported.

The brutalized bodies, which were concealed in suitcases and buried in shallow graves, were there for “some time,” Cleveland Police Chief Dorothy Todd said.

“It is traumatic for everyone,” Todd told the outlet. “It is traumatic for those who live in the area to know that this was right there at their doorstep.

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The girls still haven’t been positively identified.Cleveland 19 News

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The bodies were in shallow graves for “some time,” Cleveland police said.
Todd said they are diligently parsing through statewide databases and missing children reports with assistance from “state, federal and local partners” as police work to identify the young victims.

Cleveland local Phillip Donaldson came across the mutilated bodies around 6 p.m. Monday when his dog dragged him to the edge of the park and incessantly pawed at the ground.

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A dog-walker found the suitcases Monday evening.WEWS
When Donaldson dredged up the first suitcase, he shockingly found “somebody’s head in it” — before frantically calling 911.

It is unclear if Donaldson also discovered the second suitcase, where the other victim’s remains were hidden.

The two young girls whose bodies were found in suitcases in Ohio were half-sisters, according to new information from the medical examiner.

The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner said Wednesday that DNA tests showed the two girls were half-sisters.

However, the remains have not been identified.

In a news conference, Cleveland Police Chief Dorothy Todd confirmed the bodies of two young girls were found in suitcases on the city’s East Side on Monday evening.

Cleveland police were called just after 6 p.m. to a field for a report of a suspected dead body.

According to police, a man was walking his dog in the area and the dog picked up the scent, leading the man to the body.

The man immediately called 911.

Responding officers found a “deceased individual that was in a shallow grave inside of a suitcase,” Todd said.

Officers then found the second body nearby in another suitcase.

Todd said both suitcases were partially buried in shallow graves. She said the victims had been there quite some time.

“It is traumatic for everyone. It is traumatic for those who live in the area to know that this was right there at their doorstep,” Todd said.

Authorities said one victim is believed to be between 8 and 13 years old and the other is believed to be between 10 and 14 years old.

“Locally, we have no reports of missing children to match these identifications. We are checking statewide as well. We have assistance from our state, federal and local partners,” Todd said.

Police said the investigation is in its very early stages, but there is no indication of an ongoing threat to the public.

The bodies of two young girls were found inside suitcases in Cleveland, Ohio, police said on Tuesday.

In a press conference, Cleveland Police Chief Dorothy Todd said on Tuesday that the bodies of the two girls were found in suitcases buried in shallow graves on Monday evening. One of the girls was believed to be between the ages of 8 and 13 years old, while the other was believed to be 10 to 14 years old.

The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed through DNA that the girls are half-siblings, CBS affiliate WOIO reported, but they haven’t been positively identified.

“This is a priority,” Todd said during Tuesday’s press conference. “This is a traumatic event for our officers, for the community, and this is just such a tragic incident, but we are trying to develop any leads we can.”

Police said there are no active missing persons reports in Cleveland that match the two victims.

Officials said someone walking their dog near East 162nd Street and Midland Avenue found what appeared to be a body inside a suitcase around 6 p.m. on Monday. When officers responded to the scene near Ginn Academy, they found one of the bodies stuffed in a suitcase in a shallow grave. The second shallow grave with the body stuffed in a suitcase was found after officers searched the area.

“This is a field close to the school over there,” Todd said. “This is just a residential neighborhood that I’m sure a lot of people do frequent.”

Todd said there is no clear indication of possible causes of death for the girls or how long the girls were there.

“It was some time, so it’s not something that was recent,” Todd said.

There is no suspect, Todd added. Anyone with information can contact the Cleveland police at 216-623-5464.

“Usually in residential areas, you know what’s happening in your neighborhood, something just seems a little bit off,” Todd said. “That’s why we’re asking that anyone who has anything that they believe to be information directly related to or suspicious, that they give us a call.”