Murdered Woman’s Body Stuffed In Duffel Bag And Dumped In Vacant Lot

The body of a Philadelphia woman was found in a duffel bag that had been dumped in an empty lot.

Murder victim Laura Araujo, 23, was a recent graduate of the Art Institute of Philadelphia.

Police arrested a suspect in her murder who lived in the same boarding house as Araujo. Authorities believe robbery was the motive in the crime. Araujo and the suspect apparently got into a physical altercation late Sunday night or early Monday morning when she allegedly encountered him in her room trying to steal her stuff.

Upon being discovered, the suspect allegedly beat and strangled the woman. “Investigators say after [the suspect] killed Araujo, he bound her hands and feet, put her in a trash bag, wrapped her in a blanket, and stuffed her in a duffel bag. Then, he allegedly dumped her body and all her belongings in a vacant [North Philadelphia] lot,” ABC News Philadelphia reports. The body was discovered early Monday morning.

The suspect also allegedly burned her car, an act that evidently led to his arrest. “The man was reportedly identified as a person of interest in the case after he went to a local hospital to be treated for burns that they believe he sustained while torching Araujo’s car.” He may have also left his cell phone at the scene of the car fire.

According to NBC News Philadelphia, the suspect, age 22, has confessed to the crime. He has been charged with murder, robbery, burglary, theft, abuse of corpse, and other offenses.

Said Capt. James Clark of the police homicide unit of the victim in this horrible crime, “She was a very nice young lady, very successful, had a lot of good things in her future.”

In late 2013, as The Inquisitr previously reported, a deceased baby was discovered in a duffel bag in a San Antonio recycling center.

[image via Shutterstock]

Watch local news reports about the arrest in the Philadelphia duffel bag murder:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rna9Wz4DJpo