Published Feb. 13, 2020
Mamaroneck torso: Police seek help identifying woman's body that washed ashore in suitcase
It has been 13 years since a woman's torso washed up in a suitcase in Mamaroneck.
Village police are still trying to identify the remains that were found at Harbor Island Park on March 3, 2007, and they are hoping a new push for the public's help will lead to someone recognizing the tattooed body.
"Someone murdered her, which was in a very gruesome, awful, violent way," Detective Sgt. Mark Gatta told The Journal News/lohud on Monday. "But then they stole her identity, so it's almost like being victimized twice. If we can give her an identity, maybe we'll be that much closer to figuring out who did it."
The woman had a tattoo, a bit bigger than an inch, above her right breast that depicted two cherries on a stem. She may have been a light-skinned Hispanic or black woman, about 35 to 50 years old, police said. She may have stood about 5 feet, 4 inches to 5 feet, 6 inches tall and weighed 160 to 200 pounds.
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In 2007 Westchester County's medical examiner said the woman died about a week before her remains washed up on a beach in Mamaroneck.
Almost four weeks after that suitcase floated ashore, a severed leg washed up on the Long Island estate of Cablevision CEO and New York Knicks and Rangers owner James Dolan. The Nassau County coroner determined that leg belonged to the woman whose torso was found in Mamaroneck.
The case was featured on "America's Most Wanted" that spring and police passed around fliers locally and made inquiries at tattoo parlors and in Hispanic communities in the area, Gatta said.
A significant amount of tips flowed in for a couple of years, but after a few years nothing was coming through about the case, he said.
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Anyone who may have information on the case is urged to call Gatta at 914-825-8588. All calls will be kept confidential.
Mamaroneck torso: Police seek help identifying woman's body that washed ashore in suitcase