A woman's dismembered body was found stuffed in a duffel bag after a dog walker's hounds spotted blood and followed the trail during their morning walk in Queens, New York City.

The woman has been identified as married mother-of-two Orsolya Gaal, 51. Her body was discovered by a local resident named Glenn Van Nostrand who called the police to the crime scene.

"It didn't look very fleshy. It was more like a crash test dummy. I thought it was maybe some equipment being used for something. I didn't think anything of it," said Nostrand. The body was found near a popular walking path on Metropolitan Avenue in Forest Hills.

The police officers later followed the blood trail with the help of the hounds, which led them to the woman's house around half a mile away from where the blood-soaked bag was found.

The police then made an "emergency entry" into the woman's house and found her 13-year-old son alone inside. The boy was later seen being taken away in handcuffs. However, the child was released after questioning.

Gaal's husband Howard Klein and their eldest son, aged 17, were reportedly out of state when the police reached the house and found the younger son alone.

The neighbours described the family as "nice and seemingly normal." They had been living in the area for the last nine years. One of the neighbours told The New York Post that Gaal was a "stay-at-home mom. She spent a lot of time with the kids."

"She was out there living her life and making sure her kids were well looked after like any mother would. This is the last thing I'd expect to wake up to in the morning. To wake up to this is just devastating," said one of the residents.

According to a report in CBS2, the suspected cause of death was blunt force trauma. The woman's 17-year-old son and husband were believed to be the "people of interest" in the case initially. However, the police are still investigating the case and nothing concrete has been revealed yet.

Crime Scene
Crime scene police line | Representational Image Photo: GETTY IMAGES / SCOTT OLSON GETTY IMAGES/SCOTT OLSON