Story highlights
A child's feet, hands and a head are found in a Chicago park
Authorities don't know yet if the parts are from the same body
Authorities in Chicago say they don’t know yet whether child body parts found in the city’s Garfield Park are from the same body.
Over the weekend, after a human foot was discovered, searchers recovered the head, two hands, and another foot of a child, according to the police department and the city’s medical examiner’s office. Investigators found the hands and feet in a lagoon in the park on Saturday and officers continued searching into the night, video footage from CNN affiliate WLS showed.
A source with knowledge of the investigation said it was a citizen who made the first discovery in the park.
A search of the same area Sunday recovered the head.
Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said investigators also found a plastic bag that was brought to a lab to be opened in a sterile environment. Guglielmi said he believes the remains were somehow separated from the bag.
As search teams returned to the same area on Monday, the medical examiner’s office said a pathologist would begin the examination process.
The park, which is centrally located near Chicago’s New West Side, was closed. On Tuesday, investigators will continue scouring a lagoon in the park looking for more remains and evidence, according to the police spokesman.
There’s still a lot that authorities don’t know, though the fact the case involves a child is a challenge.
“Cases involving children are exceptionally difficult for all affected, even police,” Guglielmi said on Twitter.
CNN’s Greg Botelho and Seth Kovar contributed to this report.