A possible crime case that alarmed New South Wales police in Australia took an unexpected turn when the "body of a woman" spotted inside an abandoned suitcase turned out to be an extremely realistic sex doll.
Despite the embarrassment caused by the discovery, experts are justifying the police's actions, which lasted several hours, with the argument that they followed established protocol by avoiding fully opening the suitcase, as they could destroy valuable evidence.
According to The Guardian, it all started on Sunday in the rural area of Olen, when two citizens saw a suitcase on the side of the road and believed it contained human remains.
Police initially said it was likely a woman's body and the suitcase was sent to a forensics lab. An examination conducted on Monday morning revealed it was a sex doll, which was clothed, had hair, a nose ring and what appeared to be bruises and scratches.
Why didn't they open the suitcase?
Former police officer and forensic scientist Vincent Hurley called the incident "a joke in retrospect," but said the officers did the right thing. "Can you imagine if it was a real body and they just opened the suitcase and started searching? They did the right thing. It's embarrassing, yes, but they followed procedure," he told The Guardian Australia.
He explained that at a potential crime scene, officers try not to tamper with any evidence. Fully opening a zipper, for example, could destroy fibers, blood stains or other evidence.
Associate professor of forensic science Paola Mani said that the best practice when there is suspicion of a body inside a suitcase or other closed object is not to open it on the spot, but to examine it with X-rays.
Even when it was determined to be a doll, experts had to examine the object for possible traces of DNA or other evidence that could link it to another criminal case.
Hurley said modern sex dolls can be "extremely realistic," while real-life crime victims have often been found in suitcases, trunks or barrels. "It's not unusual to find a body in a suitcase. What's unusual is that this time it turned out to be a plastic doll," she said.
Police have closed their investigation, as the doll is not considered to have childlike features, which would constitute a criminal offence in Australia.
Local police chief Linda Bradbury said authorities had no regrets about their actions, stressing that officers had followed established procedures "meticulously." At the same time, she noted that the citizens who found the suitcase did the right thing by immediately notifying authorities. ©LAPSI.al
