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March 18, 2024

Child's remains found in duffel bag behind West Philly property, police say

A man discovered the body while doing work at a home in Mantua, investigators say

Investigations Human Remains
Child Remains Mantua Thom Carroll/for PhillyVoice

The remains of a child were found in a duffel bag at a property in West Philly on Monday, police say.

UPDATE (5/1/24): Philadelphia police have identified the remains in the duffel bag as 4-year-old Demari Carter, who had been missing since December. 

Carter's mother, 28-year-old Dominique Bailey, and her boyfriend, 30-year-old Kevin Spencer, were charged with murder in January in connection to the boy's death. Bailey allegedly had told her family that her son was fatally struck by a car, but investigators found no evidence of a crash. 

Police used DNA testing to confirm that the decomposed remains found in the duffel bag were Carter's, authorities said. 

See the original story below. 


The remains of a child were found inside a duffel bag in Mantua on Monday morning, Philadelphia police said.

The remains were discovered by a man who had been doing work in the rear of a home on the 600 block of North 38th Street, investigators said. The man showed police the duffel bag, which contained severely decomposed remains of a child, when they responded to the property. 


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The gender and age of the child could not immediately be determined, police said.

An investigation is underway and police said they will provide updates when more information is available.

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