Two suspected squatters have been taken into custody in connection with the death of a woman whose body was found inside a duffel bag in a New York City apartment. The suspects were apprehended in York, Pennsylvania, by the Middle Pennsylvania Regional Fugitive Taskforce without incident.
The victim, Nadia Vitel, 52, was discovered deceased in her late mother's apartment on March 14. Police responded to a wellness check at the apartment in Manhattan's Kips Bay neighborhood, where Vitel's body was found. It was her son who, along with the building's superintendent, made the grim discovery of her body stuffed inside a duffel bag in a closet.
Vitel, who had traveled from Spain, was preparing the apartment for a family friend to move in. Surveillance footage showed her entering the apartment on the same day the suspects were seen entering and leaving the premises.
The apartment had been vacant for several months before the incident, during which police suspect squatters had taken up residence on the 19th floor property. Authorities believe that Vitel encountered the squatters, who allegedly fatally assaulted her. The New York City Medical Examiner's Office determined the cause of death to be blunt force trauma to the head, ruling it a homicide.
After the assault, the suspects fled the scene in the victim's stolen car. They were later apprehended in Pennsylvania after crashing the vehicle, leading local police to respond to the incident. It was only the following day that authorities discovered the car was linked to suspects wanted for a homicide in New York.
The identities of the suspects have not been publicly disclosed by the police as the investigation continues into the tragic death of Nadia Vitel.
