The ISP this weekend confirmed that the boy’s body was found in a wooded area in the southern part of the state. The grim discovery was made by an unnamed resident who had been hunting for mushrooms in the area.
On Tuesday, ISP Sergeant Carey Huls revealed that the body was found in a small suitcase and shared a photo of the bag in a press release in the hopes of sparking new advancements in the case. Since their initial call for information did not pan out as expected, the ISP now suspects that the child may originally have been from somewhere outside Washington County, where his boy was found.
“This obviously could be a national thing,” Huls told WAVE News. “It could be a child from any location. We’re not going to preclude anybody, and we’re going to look at any information that comes in that could answer the question of the identity of this child.”
As seen in the above photo, the suitcase has a hard shell body emblazoned with an image of the palm tree-lined Las Vegas strip. The bag appears to have an extendable handle coming out of the top with wheels on the bottom.
Officials reported that the child’s body was found approximately 80 feet into the woods from the nearby 7000 block of East Holder Road in New Pekin, Indiana. The victim was described as being Black, around five years of age, and approximately four feet tall with a slim build and a short haircut.
In the search for answers, the ISP has enlisted the help of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, a private non-profit dedicated to helping in such cases. An autopsy was conducted on the body on Tuesday afternoon, but no conclusive cause of death has been determined at this time.
An official tip line has been established for the case, with individuals encouraged to call (888) 437-6432 with any information relevant to the case. ISP said that it has received 200 calls from the public so far, with none leading to a break in the case. They have also reached out to various local schools in hopes of finding a child that has recently stopped showing up, but have also had gotten no useful information from this pursuit, local ABC affiliate WRTV reported.
“We just need the public’s help in relaying this information,” Huls told WAVE News.
Newsweek reached out to the Indiana State Police for comment.