Mystery Woman's Body Found in Duffle Bag in San Francisco Park

May 28, 2023

A woman was reportedly found dead inside a large duffle bag in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park.

Police responded to the area of Fulton Street and 22nd Avenue at around 7:25 p.m. on Sunday on a report of a deceased person, a spokesperson for the San Francisco Police Department told Newsweek.

"Upon arrival, a witness told officers they had located the unresponsive adult female and called police," the police spokesperson said.

The woman's body was found inside a large bag not far from where the Outside Lands festival took place, The San Francisco Standard reported. The three-day event concluded on Sunday evening.

Officer Kevin Gil told the Standard that it was a dog walker who made the discovery.

People leaving Outside Lands and residents of Fulton Street looked on as officers searched an area of the park cordoned off with police tape, the newspaper reported.

No other information about the incident was immediately available.

The investigation is active and ongoing, the police spokesperson said. It is being led by the SFPD Homicide Detail.

Anyone with information is asked to call the SFPD 24-hour Tip Line at 1-415-575-4444 or Text a Tip to TIP411 and begin the text message with SFPD. They can remain anonymous.

The incident comes after a Florida man was arrested for the murder of his wife earlier in August after her dismembered remains were found stuffed inside suitcases and bags.

William Lowe Jr., 78, was charged with first-degree murder and abuse of a human body in connection with the death of 80-year-old Aydil Barbosa Fontes, the Delray Beach Police Department said.

Officers found the first of five large bags containing her remains in the city's Intracoastal Waterway on July 21. A search then led to the discovery of two more suitcases and two small bags containing more remains.

Police had appealed to the public for help identifying the woman, describing her at the time as aged between 35 to 55 years old and white or Hispanic.

Det. Mike Liberta, who led the investigation, said detectives conducted neighborhood canvases and found multiple witnesses who provided information about a vehicle and individual seen in the area several times before the suitcases and bags were found.

"Video surveillance was collected from multiple sources and detectives were able to confirm the statements made by these witnesses," Liberta said. "A vehicle tag was obtained, which led us to a subject that lived in the immediate vicinity where the suitcases were located."

And in another case, the body of a 6-year-old girl was stuffed into a bucket and left outside her mother's home in Louisiana in April, police said.

Police in Harahan, a suburb of New Orleans, found the girl inside a 10-gallon chlorine bucket, Newsweek previously reported. They later arrested the girlfriend of the girl's father in connection with her death.