LAS VEGAS, NV. (THECOUNT) — Las Vegas police discovered the body of a 3-year-old child inside a duffel bag at a Las Vegas home after a mother told them her child went missing on a walk to the store.
The woman called police Thursday to report her daughter’s disappearance while she was taking her four children to a market on the corner of Lake Mead and Hollywood Blvd, Metropolitan Police Department officials said.
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Per police protocol, officers first got the woman’s consent to search her apartment at a complex across the street from the store. Police said that’s the first place officers look for missing children, because they often hide in their own homes. Officers didn’t find anything during their first search, officials said, but returned after it became unclear if the woman walked to the store with three children or four. source
During the second search of the apartment, an officer found a heavy duffel bag with a strong odor in a master bedroom closet.
Police said the body of a young child was found in several garbage bags stuffed inside the duffel bag.
The child has not been identified, but matches the missing girl’s description.
Officials said it appeared the child was killed within the last three days.
The girl’s father was arrested Tuesday when police responded to a domestic violence call at their home, Police said. Her mother was taken into custody after the child’s body was discovered.
The woman’s other three children, all younger than 3 years old, were taken by Child Protective Services.