Woman detained after anonymous tip about severed body parts in her freezer
It is not yet known who the body parts, which included a severed head, belonged to.
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A woman was arrested in New York after body parts, including a severed head, were found in her freezer.
Heather Stines, 45, who lives in Brooklyn, was taken into custody on Monday but has not yet been charged with any crime, according to NYPD.
Police reportedly detained Ms Stines after an anonymous caller contacted the New York City Police Department’s tipline.
An NYPD spokesperson confirmed to The Independent that officers responded to a ‘wellness check’ at the address, where they found an unresponsive male, who was later pronounced dead.
“Upon arrival, officers observed an unconscious and unresponsive unidentified male inside the apartment,” the spokesperson said, adding that emergency responders pronounced the individual “deceased on scene.”
After the discovery of the dead male, officers then found the body parts in the freezer.
“During the course of the patrol’s investigation, they came across some body parts in the freezer. At this point we’re trying to identify that person,’ said NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny, according to the New York Post.
It is not yet clear who the body parts belonged to. The incident is now under investigation and the chief medical examiner is working to determine the cause of death.
The woman’s aunt, Amy Stines, told DailyMail.com that her niece had moved there from Kentucky and was living with her husband. Both had longstanding drug problems, the aunt said, and had been arrested several times.
“Oh god, I just can’t fathom this,” Ms Stines told the outlet.
The husband, Nicholas McGee, has been jailed in Virginia since September for allegedly trying to cash a fraudulent check, a relative told the outlet.
At least twice, according to a neighbour, people had tried to break into the apartment searching for money she owed them for drugs.