DELRAY
BEACH — A woman cleaning out her deceased parents' storage unit
discovered a partially mummified baby - possibly born in the 1950s -
inside a suitcase, police said.
The baby was wrapped in 1950s-era newspapers and placed inside the
suitcase, which in turn had been packed into a larger suitcase and
stored inside the unit at Security Self Storage, 189 Linton Blvd.,
police said.
The medical examiner's office declared the remains human and took them from the scene for an autopsy.
A couple had rented the storage unit since 1996, but the man died
several years ago and the woman in the past year, said officer Jeff
Messer, Delray Beach police spokesman. The couple's family recently
received a bill for money owed on the unit, so an adult daughter and
her husband came to clean it out Monday.
Among the furniture, a bicycle and other possessions scattered about
the room, the daughter and her husband spotted a large suitcase. They
opened it to find a second, smaller suitcase, with newspapers inside.
They unwrapped them and made the grisly discovery shortly before 6
p.m., when police were notified.
Investigators believe it's a "very safe bet" that the baby was born as early as the 1950s, Messer said.
Police did not release the names of the man and woman who found the
baby, or of the couple who rented the unit before their deaths.
Police and the medical examiner's office are investigating.
