March 18, 2024
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.
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.
