UNION CITY — Police here are investigating how a bloody fetus came to end up in the toilet of a home that was supposed to be unoccupied and soon go on the real estate market.
The discovery was made earlier this month by two people who were supposed to be cleaning a residence on the 1500 block of H Street in Union City. The cleaners had been called there after a report of squatters at the ostensibly unoccupied residence, authorities said.
Now, police not only have to figure out how the fetus died, but locate the mother as well. Authorities say there was evidence of violence in the home, a possible indication that the mother had a miscarriage after being assaulted.
There are other tragic possibilities that authorities say they’re investigating, including that potential the baby was born and then killed, or stillborn.
Police were called to the home on Nov. 15, and declared the property to be a potential crime scene. Earlier in the month, the property owner had planned to sell the house and hired an appraiser, who observed evidence of squatters living there, including garbage piling up at the residence, authorities said.
Assuming the squatters had left, the homeowner called the cleaning crew to straighten things up so that the appraiser could do their job. Instead, the cleaning crew arrived and opened the garage door, only to find a startled man and woman inside. The pair took off on bicycles, only offering up a hasty, “Sorry,” before they fled, authorities said.
The cleaners continued into the home, then made the horrifying discovery. Other evidence indicated people had lived in the home for at least several days, authorities said.
It is the second suspicious death investigation here in recent memory. In August, police found a mummified dead body of a man on a toilet, while investigating the disappearance of an elderly woman with dementia. While the woman was located safe, the body discovery started its own investigation, with the man’s identity and cause of death still a mystery.
