Police in Wisconsin investigating deaths of 2 people found in suitcases

TOWN OF GENEVA, Wis. – Police say two suitcases containing the remains of two people have been found in long grass near a road in southeastern Wisconsin.

Highway workers came across the suitcases Thursday as they mowed the grass in Town of Geneva, about 50 miles southwest of Milwaukee, and moved them to the roadside, said town Police Chief Steven Hurley. The chief said there appeared to be one body in each suitcase, but he wouldn't comment on the condition of the remains or describe the size of the suitcases.

The suitcases were found along a rural road surrounded by corn fields. Hurley said it doesn't appear the victims were killed at the location where the suitcases were found. The investigation shows the crime was an isolated incident and residents in the community of about 4,000 are safe, he said, but declined to elaborate.

It's "very abnormal," Hurley said. "It's a very quiet town, a close-knit town. Everybody knows everybody else."

Jim Daily, 70, owns a hay and horse farm about half a mile from where the suitcases were discovered. He came home Thursday afternoon to find the road barricaded by police. All officers would tell him was that no one was in danger, he said. He later learned about the bodies from news outlets.

Daily said the grass was tall around the ditch, so he had no idea how long the suitcases might have been there.

"I don't remember seeing anybody stopped or parked. We were as surprised as anybody else. It was a shock to all of us. You don't like finding corpses in your neighborhood," he said.

The Waukesha County Medical Examiner's Office was conducting autopsies Friday. The town police were receiving assistance from the Walworth County Sheriff's Department and the Wisconsin Division of Criminal Investigation.

Investigators were checking with other law enforcement agencies for reports of missing people.