SEATTLE - Seattle Police now say two unusual, unsolved crimes are related, and the killer went to great lengths to hide the victim's body parts across the city.
Last December, a group of homeless outreach volunteers stumbled across human remains on a hillside underneath the Ship Canal bridge. Detectives later discovered individually bagged parts spread across the slope.
Months earlier, in July, a human torso was discovered across town at a Georgetown recycling plant.
Detectives now believe the two scenes are related, and the parts belong to the same person.
"What did they do to deserve such a grisly fate?"says Sgt. Sean Whitcomb, of the Seattle Police Department, who calls the case highly unusual for detectives. "Its clear the killer, or killers, went to a lot of work to dispose the body."
Whitcomb says DNA and other recent evidence helped connect the two scenes. He says despite initial concerns a serial killer could be responsible, the crime appears to be isolated and unrelated to any other case.
The victim is Donald Meyer, of Ballard. Law enforcement sources say the 53-year-old was a marijuana dealer, who friends reported missing in June of 2011. CSI teams later found blood stains in his apartment, and detectives traced the torso to a dumpster near Meyer's apartment.
"They did everything they could to cover their tracks," said Whitcomb.
Sources say not all of Meyer's remains have been recovered, and additional evidence is still needed. Police have not identified a suspect yet.
