Pocono News Section

Body Parts Found Scattered Along I-380

Body Parts Found Scattered Along I-380 - Tuesday, January 29, 2008 at 10:00PM EST

Reported by: Laurie Monteforte
Tuesday, Jan 29, 2008 @10:00pm EST
MONROE COUNTY- Police in the Poconos have a grisly murder investigation on their hands after the body parts of a light-skinned female were found in trash bags discarded along two Pocono highways.

The trash bags were found at 8 different locations scattered along I-380 and I-80 in Monroe and Lackawanna Counties. State Police say a PennDOT worker found a trash bag with human remains in it just after 9:00 A.M. at mile marker 4 along the median of northbound I-380. Investigators found a total of six trash bags with body parts along a 14 mile stretch of I-380 and two more bags 12 miles apart on a stretch of I-80 in Monroe County.

Police spent Tuesday searching the length of I-80 from Delaware Water Gap west through Carbon and Luzerne Counties and even as far west as Columbia County. However no remains were found outside of Monroe County along I-80.

More parts were discovered along I-380 in Monroe County from the I-80 junction north into southern Lackawanna County. Portions of I-380 were closed for a time Tuesday morning during the search which caused big backups for drivers. Delays were also common during the evening commute when I-380 was reduced to one lane in Lackawanna County as the search continued north of the Gouldsboro exit.

The search was suspended around 5:30 Tuesday evening. Investigators would only confirm that it was the body parts of a light-skinned female found in the trash bags. They believe it is only one body but are not sure if they have found all of the parts.

An autopsy is scheduled at Lehigh Valley Hospital on Wednesday and an anthropologist will also be looking at the parts to help in the investigation.