ARREST MADE AFTER TWO YOUNG GIRLS FOUND BURIED IN SUITCASES IN CLEVELAND
Authorities in Cleveland have arrested 28-year-old Aliyah Henderson after investigators executed a search warrant at her home as part of the investigation into the deaths of two young girls whose bodies were discovered earlier this week.
Police say Henderson lives directly across the street from the area where the suitcases were located.
The investigation began when a man walking his dog noticed an area of freshly disturbed dirt. He later said he had passed the same spot several times over the past week before his dog led him to the location where the discovery was ultimately made. When authorities searched the area, they found two suitcases buried in a shallow grave containing the bodies of two young girls, later determined to be half sisters.
Online records indicate the children were 8 and 10 years old and list Henderson as their mother, although investigators have not officially confirmed that relationship. Authorities say the investigation moved quickly after evidence pointed them to the nearby home.
Officials have not yet released the girls’ cause of death, but the sheriff stated that the victims were not dismembered and appear to have been buried at the location for some time before they were discovered.
The case has left the community stunned, and investigators say the investigation is still ongoing as they work to determine exactly what happened to the two children.
More information is expected as authorities continue to release updates.
olice in Cleveland said they arrested a woman in connection with the case of two half-sisters found buried in suitcases.
Cleveland police have not released the name of the person, but records show 28-year-old Aliyah Henderson was booked into the Cuyahoga County Jail on Wednesday evening for murder and child endangering.
The arrest comes after two half-sisters were found buried in suitcases in shallow graves Monday in a field near Ginn Academy in the South Collinwood neighborhood. It’s believed they had been there for quite some time.
Authorities said one victim is believed to be 8-and-a-half to 13 years old, and the other is believed to be 10-and-a-half to 14 years old. At this time, they have not been positively identified.
Neighbors say Henderson lives at a home across the street from where the girls were found buried. It was at that home where police took someone into custody Wednesday.
Cleveland Police Sgt. Freddy Diaz said investigators identified the person of interest while serving a search warrant.
“Part of the investigation led us to this home. It’s been a nonstop, ongoing investigation. Our homicide unit, they have been working around the clock,” Diaz said.
City councilman Michael Polensek said he wants accountability for the person who did this and justice for the victims.
“What kind of monster-demon would do this to two children? Just throw them away like they’re garbage? No, not here, not in Collinwood. That don’t happen. We’re not going to put up with that,” Polensek said. “There’s got to be justice for these two kids.”
Police said the investigation remains in its very early stages.
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NEED TO KNOW
- The bodies of two young girls were found stuffed inside suitcases in a park in Cleveland by a dog walker on Monday, March 2
- The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office told PEOPLE that a preliminary DNA examination determined that the unidentified girls were half-siblings
- One of the girls is believed to be between 8½, and 13, while the other is thought to be between 10½ and 14, Cleveland Police Chief Dorothy Todd said at a press conference
The two young girls who were found deceased and stuffed inside suitcases in a park in Cleveland were related, the medical examiner’s office has said.
The bodies of the unidentified girls, thought to be between 8 and 14 years old, were found by a dog walker on Monday, March 2, PEOPLE previously reported.
Cleveland Police Chief Dorothy Todd said at a press conference the following day that officers had responded to the area of East 162 in Midland at approximately 6 p.m. local time. The location was described as a field close to a school.
Authorities found a “deceased individual that was in a shallow grave inside of a suitcase,” and during their search of the scene for evidence, they found what “appeared to be a second shallow grave” with another suitcase and a second body inside.
The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office told PEOPLE in a statement that they confirmed through preliminary DNA relationship testing that the two girls were half-siblings.
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Chris Harris, a spokesperson for the ME’s office said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE, “At this time, neither decedent has been positively identified. This is an ongoing investigation, and we will provide additional information as it becomes available. No further information is available at this time.”
After police concluded their search of the scene, Todd said the medical examiner’s office took custody of the individuals for “further investigation.”
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Todd said the bodies were those of “two juvenile Black females.”
One of zhe girls is believed to be between 8½, and 13, while the other is thought to be between 10½/ and 14, according to Todd.
Speaking during the press conference on Tuesday, Todd did not describe the conditions of the bodies, but did note that they were not dismembered.
“At this time, there are no clear indicators of the cause of death of the two young females,” said Todd, adding that their bodies had been in the location for “some time,” but that they did not know for exactly how long.
“It’s not just something that was recent,” she said.
According to local media outlet WEWS-TV, Phillip Donaldson, the man whose dog sniffed out the suitcases and who called the police, said that the pile of dirt under which one of the girls was found had been there for at least a week.
“It was like a pile of dirt, and she stopped to sniff … and she was taking too long,” Donaldson said. “So I went back and looked, and it was a suitcase that was half-buried, and I pulled it up and looked in it, and it was a head. Somebody’s head in it.”
There are no suspects in the case and locally there are no reports of any missing children that match either of the girls, according to Todd, who called it a “terrible, horrific situation.”
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“This is a priority,” Todd said. “This is a traumatic event for our officers, for the community, and this is just such a tragic incident, but we are trying to develop any leads we can. That’s why we’re also asking for the community’s help.”
A 24-hour response line for any tips has been established by the police. Anyone with information should call the Cleveland Police Homicide Unit at 216-623-5464.
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