Police said a body was put into a shopping cart then set on fire under a bridge in Yonkers. NBC New York’s Jessica Cunnington reports.
A horrific and gruesome discovery was made under a bridge in Yonkers, as police said firefighters who raced to put out flames found a charred body in a shopping cart.
The body was found around 2 a.m. Monday near the Oak Street Bridge, near the border of Mount Vernon, according to police. Firefighters were called about a fire under the bridge, but as soon as they extinguished the flames, they saw the lifeless body.
Yonkers police have not confirmed any further details in the case, and the the person has not yet been identified. However, a high-ranking NYPD official told NBC New York it appeared that the victim may have been killed in the Bronx. The official said that police have video of a man rolling a shopping cart onto a Metro-North train in the 44th precinct, which appeared to be the same shopping cart later found on fire.
The medical examiner will determine the cause of death, and if the person had suffered any additional injuries before being set on fire. The NYPD official said that the victim's teeth had been knocked out and their hands were missing.
Police were investigating a possible motive behind the morbid find. A block away from the bridge, detectives were seen looking for surveillance video at businesses along the same street as the Mount Vernon Metro-North station.
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