Two squatters beat a woman to death after she discovered they were living rent-free inside her deceased mother’s New York City apartment, according to authorities.
The squatters, a couple, might have stayed in the luxury apartment for months after the previous tenant passed away.
According to police, the squatters were not content with a short stint of living for free on the 19th floor of an apartment that had its own elevator.
According to the New York Post, police believe when the squatters’ presence was detected, they savagely beat a woman to death and then stole her car.
Nadia Vitel, 52, was found dead and stuffed in a duffel bag in her late mother’s Manhattan apartment last week, police said. Vitel’s 19-year-old son made the gruesome discovery.
Two squatters sought in murder of NYC mom found stuffed in duffle bag: cops https://t.co/xWXzPSyGVI pic.twitter.com/5EYp0ZlHqv
— New York Post (@nypost) March 21, 2024
The teenager tracked his mother’s phone to the apartment using a location-sharing app and found her stuffed inside the duffel bag with one of her feet hanging out of it.
According to the Post, police believe Vitel discovered the squatters, whose identities have not been released but who are said to be a man and a woman in their 20s.
Is it too dangerous to live in NYC?
Officers believe Vitel entered her mother’s apartment on March 14 after she returned from a trip to Europe to get it ready to rent to a family friend.
Police don’t believe she ever made it out of the apartment after she discovered the squatters, according to the Post. Detectives believe the couple beat her to death, stowed her body, and then fled in her Lexus SUV.
NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny told the Post, “We believe that some squatters took the apartment over and this woman came home … and walked in on the squatters that were there.”
Kenny added that his team members have everything they need to make an arrest after they locate the suspects.
“As of right now, we have probable cause, we have two subjects, we have the Regional Fugitive Task Force actively hunting as we speak,” Kenny said.
He did not disclose why the NYPD is withholding the identities of the suspects.
The NYPD said officers tracked the vehicle as it left New York City and traveled across New Jersey.
The couple was last seen in Vitel’s luxury vehicle in Lower Paxton Township, Pennsylvania, where they crashed and abandoned it.
The duo reportedly spent the day of the crash seeking another vehicle to purchase in the area but had only $1,000 to spend.
_____________________________________________
