Chicago police: Suspect in custody after human remains found

CHICAGO (AP) - Chicago police have a suspect in custody after officers discovered human remains inside a freezer at a boarding house while investigating a report of a missing person, police said Tuesday.

The home's owner, a 55-year-old woman, is believed to be the victim, said Brendan Deenihan, the Chicago Police Department's chief of detectives. Her remains were found Monday.

Deenihan told reporters that a suspect who lived in the boarding house on Chicago's Northwest Side was taken into custody Monday. He said the suspect, whose name was not released, has declined to speak to detectives about the slaying, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

A resident of the boarding house who had filed a missing persons report for the building's owner told officers Monday that another building tenant had recently called a tow truck and carried a heavy bag out to the vehicle when it arrived, Deenihan said.

'œWe learned that this individual dumped a large plastic bag in a garbage can at Foster Beach,'ť Deenihan said, adding that detectives found bloody towels in that garbage can along the lakefront.

He said the can and its contents were taken to the Cook County medical examiner's office for further investigation.

Detectives then returned to the boarding house and discovered human remains in a freezer at around 7 p.m., then obtained a search warrant so they could recover the evidence.

The tow truck driver who the suspect hired told police that the suspect had pulled a knife on him, Deenihan said. He said police still 'œhave a long way to go" in their homicide investigation.