Tragic Discovery: Bodies of Two Children Located in Suitcases at Cleveland Park

Cleveland Police Chief Dorothy Todd said the two bodies were discovered in East 162 Midland on 2 March, at approximately 6:00pm. The victims were identified as juveniles, one estimated to be aged between 8 1/2 and 13, the other between 101/2 and 14.

Police responded to a caller who reported 'what appeared to be a body inside a suitcase,' per a press release covered by News 5 Cleveland. Todd said the caller was a resident who was walking his dog at the time.

Bodies Found in Suitcases and Shallow Graves

Officers initially discovered one body stuffed in a suitcase, buried in a shallow grave, in a field close to a school in the area. A broader search turned up a second body in a separate suitcase.

Cleveland Police noted the bodies belonged to 'two juvenile black females,' and that there were no immediate identifying markers. The bodies are currently under the medical examiner's custody for further investigation.

'At this time, there are no clear indicators of the cause of death of the two young females,' Todd said, adding that police have yet to determine how long the bodies had been at the location. 'It was some time, so it's not just something that was recent,' she added.

Todd confirmed the victims' bodies were not dismembered. They have also not been linked to any missing persons cases.

Police Calls for Community Collaboration

'This is a priority,' Todd asserted. 'This is a traumatic event for our officers, for the community, and this is just such a tragic incident, but we are trying to develop any leads we can. That's why we're also asking for the community's help.'

The weather has hampered investigators' ability to establish an events timeline. 'The weather has been changing recently, the snow's been thawing, so it's really hard to determine the length of time at this point,' Todd noted.

Nearby businesses are being questioned for any relevant information. Todd said they're already looking into cameras that may have captured footage of suspicious activity or persons of interest.

'Our detectives have been out there actively walking the neighbourhoods and gathering the information,' she confirmed. 'The difficult part is the timeline, how far you look back, and a lot of cameras don't capture historical data.'

Leveraging Security Cameras in Community Crime Watch

Cleveland officials have been pushing to expand the state's ability to access home and business security cameras, those that likely captured footage of a crime.

'It is our belief that if we are able to put more these in our neighborhood and in our community, it will help,' Ward 1 Councilman Joseph T. Jones told Signal Cleveland. 'That is better than block watch, because those cameras will go off and catch everything.'

Last year, Cuyahoga County Council allocated £112,254 ($150,000) to the Ward 1 Ring Door Bell program. Jones contributed to the initiative with a matching amount from his own budget. The fund was used to purchase and provide Ring cameras to ward residents.

The project intended to expand the Safe Smart CLE program, which encourages residents and local businesses to share security camera footage with law enforcement.

Cleveland police have established a 24-hour response line. Todd encourages anyone with information about the investigation to call the Cleveland Police Homicide Unit at 216-623-5464.