The police discovered the horrifying scene at approximately 6:15 a.m. on Monday when they responded to a fourth-floor unit on Nostrand Avenue near Farragut Road in Flatbush.
Police tape blocks off the crime scene outside a church where a man shot dead four people, including three of his children, before turning the gun on himself, February 28, 2022 in Sacramento, California.
The discovery, described as grisly, was prompted by a CrimeStoppers tip suggesting the presence of a possible body being "stored" at that location, explained NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny's statement on Tuesday.
"During the course of patrol's investigation, they came across some body parts in the freezer," Kenny told The New York Post. "At this point, we're trying to identify that person."
Sources claim the refrigerator was taped shut in an effort to prevent the odor of the remains from escaping.
"We have a head. We have some limbs," continued. "As of right now, it seems like we have the whole body."
A neighbor told WABC, "That's something you see in Colorado or Wyoming. Not here in Brooklyn, New York."
The woman who lives inside the apartment was taken into custody at the scene due to several open petit larceny warrants against her. However, she has not been charged with a crime, Kenny said.
The Messenger reported that police said they'd first need to investigate how the man died - and how his body ended up inside the woman's taped-up refrigerator and freezer.
A neighbor across the hall told the Daily Mail the resident who was taken into custody would sometimes ask him for money but that she seemed like a decent person.
"She's cool as hell, I would never expect she'd have a head in her freezer, hell no," he said.
Neighbors told the Daily Mail they believe the apartment had been broken into on at least two different occasions. Additionally, another body was found decomposing in a trash can in the Bronx just days ago, revealed the Daily Mail.
Who Is Heather Stines?
HNGN recently reported that Heather Stines, the occupant of the apartment, was detained on unrelated warrants and later hospitalized due to complaints of illness. Investigators express a desire to speak with her, though as of Tuesday afternoon, they have been unable to do so as she remains hospitalized.
While Stines has not yet been charged, DNA testing is underway to ascertain the identity of the victim and potentially link the crime to Stines.
The city Medical Examiner's Office has yet to determine the man's cause of death.
