New York discovery of human remains in refrigerator leaves questions about resident

FLATBUSH, Brooklyn (WPIX) — All day Wednesday, crime scene technicians went in and out of a third-floor apartment in a residential building in Brooklyn, New York, carrying out brown paper evidence bags in a variety of sizes, as well as large, cardboard evidence boxes.

It was the third day the evidence technicians had been at the home, where a dismembered body was found in a taped-up refrigerator/freezer. Now, questions surround the woman who lives in the apartment.

The discovery was one of at least two grisly finds made at her home Monday. 

The other was the body of a dead man found by police when they showed up at the apartment at around 7:10 p.m. Monday. They entered after being called to do a wellness check. 

The man, whom police first described as unresponsive and unconscious, was pronounced dead at the scene by EMS. They also found the woman, who told officers she felt ill.

The woman, whom police have not identified, was taken to a local hospital, where she remained Thursday. 

Neighbors of the woman said she’s fairly well-known in the six-story apartment building. Some neighbors said they were repulsed by the findings. 

“How could you be in the house like that with something like that in your refrigerator?” asked Dorothy Williams, a neighbor who knows the woman and was among residents of the building who have interacted with her over the years. 

A dismembered body was discovered inside a refrigerator in a Brooklyn apartment on Jan. 22, 2024, police said. (Credit: WPIX)

Kelly Monteza Carty, another neighbor, said she’s spoken with the woman many times and last saw her Monday, hours before police arrived.

“I never experienced anything like that,” she said of the finds police made Monday.

Williams added that she has been in the woman’s apartment in the past, and that it’s full of materials nearly up to the ceiling.  

While that may potentially be a sign of dysfunction, Williams said, the situation is far beyond what she’d imagined. “I couldn’t even sleep — tossing and turning all night and everything,” she said. 

Police have not identified the man found dead in the apartment, and investigators have also not said if the remains found in the refrigerator/freezer belong to the man or to another person. 

The investigation is ongoing, New York Police Department officials said.