Woman’s body found in freezer in east Las Vegas; death called ‘suspicious’

Inside a 55+ mobile home complex where the residents host craps and bingo nights, a body was discovered in a freezer, police said. Officers discovered the body after concerned neighbors requested a welfare check.

Officers responded to the request around 11:40 a.m. in the 5500 block of Tres Piedras Road, which is near Cabana and Vegas Valley drives, Metropolitan Police Department Homicide Section Lt. Jason Johansson said during a news conference Wednesday night. The person who called in reported that a 68-year-old woman known to walk her dog in the neighborhood regularly had not been seen since late October. They asked that officers make sure she was “okay.”

When officers arrived at the home and attempted to reach the woman, nobody answered the door. Officers then entered the property, finding a man and woman that Johansson said “they were not looking for” and who behaved suspiciously. Police believed the pair to be roommates, but they could not give any information about the residing woman’s whereabouts, Johansson said.

As officers then thoroughly searched the house, they located a locked chest freezer inside.

“When we do these welfare checks, we typically look for anything that can fit the size of the person we are looking for,” Johansson said. “So, we called a locksmith to open the freezer, and unfortunately, they did find the remains of a female who, based on description and age, appears to be the 68-year-old female that lived in the home.”

Johannson said that no one had been arrested in connection with the discovery of the body, but the man and woman were taken into custody and were cooperative.

“We’re treating this as it’s a homicide investigation, but right now, it’s a suspicious death,” Johannson added. “We are not at the stage where we can definitively say that another person killed her.”

He added that, at this point in the investigation, officers do not believe the event was random, and there was no outstanding threat to the community.

“There does not appear to be someone hiding in the dark or anything like that,” said Johannson, who referenced previous cases where someone died and others fraudulently lived off their assets. “…We’ve also had times where it’s a murder.”

Johansson said officers will be on the scene through the night to “find out exactly what happened.” He said they would look for more video footage and witnesses.

Johannson also encouraged complex residents to share information regarding activity at the residence in the past three weeks.

Contact Akiya Dillon at akiyadillon@reviewjournal.com .