A woman's decapitated head has been found in a park in Paris, along with other dismembered body parts. The grim discovery was made at Buttes-Chaumont Park in the north-east of the French capital on the morning of Valentine's Day.
It is understood a woman's pelvic area was first found by gardeners on Monday, according to a source close to the case. During a police search at 11am on Tuesday, park staff helped cops to track down the head, local media reported.
Police have opened a murder inquiry and a major search operation is underway in the space. A diving team has been called in to search the lake in the 19th arrondissement park.
The horrific find was made in an area of woodland in the public green space, which is a popular location for families and joggers. The victim hasn't been identified, but media say she was dressed in blue jeans emblazoned with a flower over the thigh. A police source said she is "North African" or "European".
The Parisien reported the blood-soaked lower torso was found in a bag along with the severed head today under a pile of foliage at a remote location. A source said: "Obviously, the body was cut dressed. The corpse was not in a state of putrefaction, which seems to attest to a recent death."
The newspaper have also said that the remains were discovered beside a disused railway line that runs through the south of the park, though this has not been verified by officials. The location is only generally used as a storage room for employees of the park.
The mayor of the 19th arrondissement has confirmed that park workers found the remains.
It comes just months after the discovery of the mutilated corpse of a 12-year-old schoolgirl was found in a suitcase in the same district. Young Lola Davies was found bound and gagged inside a plastic suitcase close to her home, with signs of her having been sexually assaulted.
Dahbia B, a homeless woman from Algeria, was accused of strangling the youngster, abusing her and scrawling the numbers "1" and "0" on her chest during the horror ordeal.
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