ST. FRANCIS COUNTY, Ark. (WREG) — Two teens in Arkansas found a woman’s body in a plastic container Tuesday afternoon, the St. Francis County Sheriff’s Office says.
St. Francis County Sheriff Bobby Mays confirmed Wednesday that the body of a nude woman was found inside a plastic container that can hold fifty pounds on County Road 731, located about five miles away from Forrest City.
The victim has not been identified.
“The body was partially decomposed. We think the body had been out there maybe a couple of weeks,” said Sheriff Mays. “Whoever did this had no feeling at all whatsoever for what they had done, no conscience.”
Both teens were riding four-wheelers in the area when they made the discovery.
The sheriff said after the teens posted about what they found on social media, a person contacted him, saying that the woman may be his mother who was last seen four weeks ago.
But, according to the sheriff, he never reported her missing.
A DNA sample was taken from the male and sent to the State Crime Lab to determine who the woman is and how she died.
Reports of the gruesome discovery came as a shock to a man who lives near the crime scene.
He did not want to be identified but said he frequently walks down County Road 731 for exercise and noticed the container three days ago.
“I could see it from the roadway. I didn’t go up to it. I wondered what was in it. I said, ‘That don’t look right.’ I didn’t think nothing of it cause they always dump garbage there, down that road,” he said.
The man was shocked to learn that a body was found inside the container.
“I didn’t realize nothin’ like that was inside of there,” he said. “Nothin’ like that ever happened down this way.”
Sheriff May said the search is very active to find who put the woman there.
“These are the kind of people we want to put behind bars for sure,” he said.
The sheriff said the incident is being treated as a homicide. The plastic container and the victim were also sent to the State Crime Lab for testing.
The investigation remains active and the duffle bag and body have been sent to the State Crime Lab.
