A man has been charged with murder after the body of a woman battling stage-four breast cancer was discovered stuffed inside a suitcase at her apartment, according to a report by Mirror.
The victim, Vanessa Sanchez, 37, was found dead in her Berkeley, California apartment after police responded to a report of a body being discovered in a residential building on May 30.
Authorities said a property manager contacted police after conducting a welfare check and finding Sanchez’s body wrapped in garbage bags and concealed inside a suitcase.
The grim discovery came just days after local media reported that Sanchez had been seen entering the apartment with Damarcus David Jones, who has since been charged in connection with her death.
Detectives said Jones, 28, was last seen entering the apartment with Sanchez on May 24, the final day the victim was believed to have been alive.
Investigators also reviewed surveillance footage that allegedly showed Jones returning to the building carrying a large wheeled suitcase.
Jones was arrested in Solano County, California, on June 2 and later charged with murder. Court records state that he admitted to investigators that he killed Sanchez.
The same court documents further revealed that Jones allegedly attempted to conceal odors inside the apartment by opening windows and operating an air purification device.
Sanchez’s death shocked her family, as she had been fighting advanced metastatic breast cancer at the time of the incident.
Her mother, Mary Sanchez, had previously launched a GoFundMe campaign following Sanchez’s diagnosis with metastatic breast cancer in 2023 to help cover medical and treatment expenses.
The fundraiser collected US$47,415 (approximately RM223,000) of its US$60,000 (approximately RM282,000) target before being updated last week with the announcement of Sanchez’s death.
In the update, Sanchez was remembered as a courageous and resilient fighter who faced her illness with remarkable strength and determination.
