Nadia Vitel found stuffed in duffel bag inside her Kip’s Bay, Manhattan apartment as cops seek 2 people seen on surveillance video entering her apartment and leaving two days later.
NYC authorities are investigating the case of a 52 year old mother whose body was found stuffed in a duffel bag inside an apartment closet at her home.
Nadia Vitel, an Ukraine national, originally from Kyiv, was found ‘unconscious’ and ‘unresponsive’ inside the bag in the East 31st Street apartment in Manhattan‘s Kip’s Bay on Thursday night, March 14th.
The woman who lived alone was declared deceased at the scene, following calls for a welfare check by the woman’s ‘concerned’ children pix11 reported.
Signs of struggle in the apartment
Vitel had not been heard from since Tuesday, March 12.
Upon arrival at the apartment building, officers accompanied Vitel’s son and the building’s super up to the 19th floor where the grim discovery was made. Vitel’s son had reportedly found her body in a closet near the unit’s entrance.
The building’s long time superintendent Jean Pompee, was the first one to enter Vitel’s apartment following a distress call from her relatives the dailymail reported.
Her family told him they hadn’t heard from her in a few days so he went to up her apartment to check on her and saw signs something was wrong.
Pompee discovered her dog urinated all over the floor because it had been unaccompanied which was very unusual.
‘They found a bag in the closet and said, “I believe there is a body in here”. I kind of sensed something was wrong, it kind of looked suspicious.’
The super added that he saw signs of struggle in the apartment as the breaker panel was left damaged.
‘I wondered how did this get like that,‘ the super added.
2 potential suspects seen entering and leaving deceased woman’s apartment
Vitel’s concerned family members then called the Fire Department who arrived on the scene.
‘The fire department opened the bag and discovered her body,’ Pompee added. ‘I didn’t peak and see the body myself, they just said there was a body in there and called the police. It was in the closet by the entrance to the door.
‘It was in a little type of bag you zipped up, a soft case type. I felt bad, you never want to hear anyone is killed or murdered.’
The superintendent confirmed there was another name on the lease of the apartment Vitel was in and said had only met that person once and forgot what they looked like.
‘Apparently she [Vitel] was subletting. I didn’t know she was going to be moving in,’ the super said.
Video surveillance retrieved from the building allegedly shows Vitel enter on March 10. Then, according to sources, a man and a woman (other reports tell of it being two men) are seen entering the building and Vitel’s apartment that same day.
The pair, believed to be in their 20s, was last seen exiting the building two days later according to NBCNY. The NYPD now seek to find the two people seen in the video for questioning and are being eyed as potential suspects.
An investigation of Vitel’s apartment and the building she lived in turned up personal items in the building’s garbage disposal area. Of intrigue, the victim’s car was also gone according to ABC7NY.
The complex where Vitel lived is a government housing facility with 69 units, with the rent paid by residents calculated according to a third of their income.
Pompee said the building is extremely friendly and filled with elderly residents who host regular get-togethers and barbecues in the community garden.
To date no one has been arrested in the case with police yet to reveal how Vitel died.
Residents living in the building have said they are living in fear as details are still unclear about what happened to the Ukrainian national.
A cause of death has yet to be determined, with preliminary investigations pointing to the case being a homicide.
