Two young Black girls found dead in suitcases in Cleveland; police seek tips

Two young Black girls were found dead inside separate suitcases buried in shallow graves Monday in Cleveland, and police asked the public for tips, Cleveland Police Chief Dorothy Todd said.

Todd said the girls are believed to be between ages 8 and 13 and 10 and 14 and were discovered Monday evening after a man walking his dog found a partially buried suitcase near East 162nd Street and Midland Avenue, in a field near Ginn Academy.

The finder told Fox 8 that his dog ran toward a fence near a playground and he called police after unzipping the suitcase and seeing a head. Cleveland police said officers located a shallow grave with a deceased individual, canvassed the area and found a second shallow grave with another suitcase containing a second individual.

The victims have not been identified, and authorities have not determined a cause of death, police said. Cleveland police said there were no active missing-person reports in the city matching the victims and that it was unclear how long the girls had been inside the suitcases.

Todd, speaking at a news conference, called the discovery a “terrible, horrific situation” and said it was “a traumatic event for our officers, for the community.” The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office has custody of the bodies, and Todd said they had not been dismembered. The Cleveland Division of Police Homicide Unit has opened a 24-hour tip line at 216-623-5464.

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