Body found stuffed in suitcase in Huntington on Nassau Road, police say

Suffolk police found a body stuffed inside a suitcase Tuesday in Huntington near an apartment complex on Nassau Road, authorities said.

Officers called to the scene at 11:50 a.m. on a report of suspicious activity made the discovery in a wooded area off the road next to the complex, according to a Suffolk County Police Department news release.

Just before 9 p.m. Tuesday, police began removing crime scene tape on Nassau Road. A portion of the road, between Tuthill Street and Woodhull Road South, had been closed for hours as police, crime lab personnel and officials with the Suffolk County Medical Examiner's Office investigated.

Additional information about the body, including identity, gender, the condition was not immediately available.

"The identity of the person and a cause of death will be determined by an autopsy to be conducted by the Suffolk County Medical Examiner’s Office," the release said.

Officials earlier had wheeled a white sheet-covered gurney out of the shrouded, wooded area to a medical examination vehicle.

The crime scene was located in a section of trees and brush on Nassau Road just off New York Avenue. Earlier on Tuesday, investigators could be seen going in and out of the apartment complex where Nassau and Woodhull roads meet.

Taylor Williamson, 32, a resident of the complex, said she was walking with her 10-month-old daughter through a grassy area on the property when she saw a large black suitcase with wheels, and what appeared to be human body parts sticking out, wrapped in a plastic bag and surrounded by flies.

The bag emitted "a scent, I’ve never smelled before” Williamson said. She called the police.

The M.A. Connell Funeral Home and a pizza shop are directly across the street. Huntington High School and Jack Abrams STEM Magnet School are both located within walking distance of where police found the body.

Students leaving school for the day walked past the blocked-off area. A school bus stopped on Woodhull Road near yellow crime scene tape and a couple of students filed out to waiting adults.

In a message sent to the school community Tuesday, Beth McCoy, Huntington schools superintendent, said because of the road closures, "our afternoon transportation was delayed a bit more than usual."

"We have been in communication with our local police who have assured us that this police activity poses no danger to our students or our school district."

Vincent Fredericks, 25, said when he came upon the crime scene tape, he could tell it was serious. There were "more police cars than you would expect for something like a car accident," he said. "That much police presence usually signifies something more complex."