TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The body found inside a barrel in central Taiwan Wednesday (Oct. 26) has not yet been identified.
The body was found inside a barrel at a factory in Taichung City’s Shengang District. A medical examiner, along with prosecutors and police officers, went to Taichung Veterans General Hospital to examine the body to identify it, CNA reported.
Based on evidence collected at the scene, police contacted two individuals who could be related to the victim to identify the person. However, the body was badly decomposed and they could not identify it.
Ho Meng-tsung(何孟宗), deputy chief at Taichung City Police Department’s Fengyuan Precinct, told media the authorities are waiting for DNA test results to identify the individual.
According to police, the victim was a male in his 40s and about 160-170 cm tall, with a watch on his wrist, long clothes, trousers, no shoes, and a tattoo on the back. The tattoo was unrecognizable because of decomposition, per CNA.
According to a police investigation, a man surnamed Lin (林) rented the factory where the barrel containing the body was found. He then subleased it to a woman surnamed Tsai (蔡) for one year. When the lease expired, Tsai said she wanted to extend the lease, but did not pay rent.
When Lin cleaned out the factory on Wednesday, he found the orange barrel with hardened concrete inside. After the barrel was overturned, part of the concrete tumbled out, exposing an arm, per CNA.
It is reported that the man’s body was wrapped in layers of plastic bags and quilts before being dumped into the barrel and covered with cement. The preliminary study estimated that the time of death was more than two years ago. Police cordoned off the scene Wednesday and brought back physical evidence such as cement mixers and quilts.
Tsai who rented the factory from Lin was initially listed as a person of interest and brought in for questioning on Wednesday afternoon. Police went back to the factory and collected some concrete from the ground on Thursday.
Police are investigating the case as a homicide and suspect more than one individual was involved, per CNA. Tsai was questioned by police again on Thursday and was later named as a defendant in the case. She was released on Thursday night but was prohibited from going abroad, per CNA.
