Man's body discovered inside car trunk in Philadelphia; police investigating homicide

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Philadelphia police are investigating after a man's body was found inside the trunk of a car in the Northern Liberties neighborhood.

Officers responded to the 400 block of North 5th Street around 3:30 p.m. on Sunday.

The 31-year-old's body was found wrapped inside a tarp in a white Jeep Grand Cherokee.

The car was parked in front of the Block Apartments and other residential homes.

"I came home on Friday and I parked right in this spot, so I know the car wasn't there," said Michael Delmastro from Northern Liberties, who lives near the scene.

He says he came home on Sunday afternoon to police lights and crime scene tape, shocked to hear a body was discovered.

"I'm sleeping here probably when it got dropped. A little unnerving," he said.

There is no word yet on the victim's cause of death or his identity. Officers say they are investigating this incident as a homicide, and no weapons have been recovered.

Residents in the area told Action News they were shocked by this incident.

"It's definitely surprising," said Dan Brown from Northern Liberties. "In the City of Philadelphia, we are used to hearing about stuff like this, unfortunately. But in Northern Liberties, usually not too much stuff like this going on."

Neighbors say they have more questions by the minute as the investigation continues.

"I just want to know how they figured out there was a body in there because a body in a car, you don't see it," said Delmastro.

With limited information, police and residents are hoping surveillance cameras will help answer questions about this homicide.

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