Police are investigating after the body of a woman was found stuffed inside a duffel bag in Queens, CBS New York reports. The woman was identified as 51-year-old Orsolya Gaal.
Police said a man was walking his dog just after 8 a.m. Saturday when he came across the bag. Officers arrived and found Gaal’s body inside it. The body had not started to decompose.
Police said a trail of blood from the duffel bag led them to a house on Juno Street, where neighbors said Gaal lived, CBS New York reported.
“I’m going to miss her. I’m in shock, and we cannot believe that this is happening,” one neighbor said.
Neighbors said Gaal lived in the home with her two sons, ages 13 and 17, and her husband. They described her as a stay-at-home mom who loved her children.
“Just so tragic. I just feel sick to the bone about hearing this,” Nicola Blankson said. “She enjoyed life. She was out and about, you know, socializing, seeing theaters, traveling.”
Sources told CBS New York the suspected cause of death was blunt force trauma. They said investigators initially believed Gaal’s 13-year-old son and husband may have been persons of interest in the case. They later said the husband is not considered a suspect.
Police said Gaal’s 13-year-old son was taken in for questioning and was released.
Investigators are now looking at the victim’s phone records to determine when it was last active.
Neighbors who saw Gaal on Friday said she seemed to be in good spirits.
“She was in the garden with the dog and the son, so I heard them talking, just regular family stuff,” Blankson said.
Distraught neighbors in the quiet community said they’re in mourning.
“Our lives will not be the same, neither, because every time I would come out, I would hear her or the dog barking,” one neighbor said. “She was a very happy woman, always smiling, always joking.”
A good friend of Gaal’s, who did not want to be identified, told CBS New York she was originally from Hungary, where her mother and sister remain.
“We go to their place for dinner. They come to ours for dinner. He’s babysat for the kids. That kind of stuff,” Blankson said. “Super shocked, super shocked. Just unbelievable. How can this happen? And sad, sad. For her, the victim, the family. This is unbelievable, a tragedy.”
So far, no arrests have been made. The motive for the attack also remains unclear.
