Human head found in box left on Chicago street; police launch investigation to find out how it got there

A 911 dispatcher said the person who found the box had hoped it was just a Halloween decoration

Police officers in Chicago responded to a call that a human head was found in a box on a Chicago street in October 2024 (PA Archive)

A human head was discovered inside a box on Chicago’s west side, according to local reports.

Police were called to the 2600 block of West Taylor Street just before 6pm on Thursday, Fox 32 Chicago reported.

Once there, the witness told authorities that they spotted the box while they were walking along the sidewalk. They looked inside and made the gruesome discovery, which they initially hoped was a morbid Halloween decoration, as per NBC 5 Chicago.

Police said that they are investigating what led to the victim’s death and how the individual’s head wound up in the box.

After the discovery, Chicago police released a brief press statement saying a man walking a dog “on the sidewalk and discovered a box containing an unknown victim’s remains inside.”

The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office has confirmed that it was notified about the human remains, according to Fox 32.

Shockingly, it is not the first time this week that human remains were discovered in Chicago.

The Illinois State Police said earlier this week that skeletal remains were found on an embankment area near the Kennedy Expressway at Webster Avenue.

The victim in that case has not been identified.

No further information was available from the Chicago Police Department.