A 47-year-old man was criminally charged in connection with a dismembered body that was found inside a garbage bag inside a U-Haul truck in Philadelphia.
Taray Herring, 47, is accused of corpse abuse, theft and related charges, according to a court document. A second man initially arrested was released without charge, a Philadelphia Police Department spokesman told NBC10.
Sources told NBC10 that someone called the police on Wednesday because they were concerned about the man believed to be the victim. The police did not find him at his home in northeastern Philadelphia, on Sanibel Street, but left after hearing from a neighbor that he used to travel.
However, police said the same neighbor called them on Thursday morning to report a suspicious U-Haul truck near his home. The officers stopped the truck and checked the rear, where they found the bag full of body parts and a gun, investigators said.
A source with knowledge of the investigation said the police found more body parts in the trash of a Wawa store a few blocks away that same night.
Police did not name the victim because the coroner is still in the process of identifying the body, a PPD spokesman said.
On Friday, authorities removed several exotic pets from their home on Sanibel Street. Neighbors told NBC10 that the man who lived there was known as a gentleman and someone who “never caused anybody trouble.”
Herring is being represented by the Defender Association of Philadelphia. The group told the Philadelphia Inquirer that it was not commenting on the case.