North Carolina authorities have discovered a body stuffed in a suitcase near a river where a pregnant woman went missing last week.
The body was discovered near the Neuse River in Raleigh around 11 a.m. Monday, WTVD reported.
Police have been working to confirm the identity and are investigating the incident as a homicide.
“It’s not every day, it’s not every morning that you find what could be a person’s body in a suitcase, in a river,” said Wake County Sheriff Gerald Baker. “This was no accident.”
The grisly discovery comes four days after 28-year-old Brittany Samone Smith was reported missing.
Police say a “noticeably pregnant” Smith was last seen on Fox Run Drive in Wendell.
Neighbors say she had been living in a tent with her boyfriend before her disappearance, WRAL reported.
Family members told the outlet they believe the body belongs to Smith.
“If this is in fact, this young lady that we’ve been looking for all weekend, someone is responsible for that,” Baker said.