On Friday afternoon, a 35-year-old East Harlem beautician and mother body was discovered decaying inside a plastic container on a Bronx sidewalk, just blocks from Yankee Stadium.
Nissa Walcott, a mother of a 15-year-old son from East Harlem, was reported missing by a close family member on February 16, police said. Her body was discovered a week later. The New York City Medical Examiner has not yet determined the cause of the death, and an investigation by the New York Police Department is ongoing.
The man who discovered the grisly discovery frequently frequents the site across from 950 University Avenue along the Deegan Expressway in order to locate and resell items dumped there by people using the self-storage facility there. He contacted police at approximately 2 p.m.
He returned in the afternoon to retrieve a dresser that had been left there around 11 a.m. A foul smell drew his attention, and he noticed a human foot sticking out from a plastic container he claimed had not been there previously, according to WABC-TV.
Although the length of time her body remained undiscovered was unknown, police sources told NBC New York that it had begun to decay. The bin in which Walcott’s body was discovered was not connected to the storage facility.
Police say they have video of both Walcott and the suspect, her cousin, entering her East Harlem apartment building — but only the suspect exiting, according to sources.
Additionally, police sources stated that video reviewed by detectives shows the cousin at Walcott’s building early Friday, removing a plastic container.
Cops think the accused texted deeply worried relatives from Walcott’s cell phone to confuse them, but the family became suspicious when the responses contradicted previous conversations — including one in which Walcott stated she was leaving for a work trip and the accused person would watch her son.
Investigators were awaiting the results of Walcott’s autopsy on Saturday and had been questioning her cousin at the 23rd Precinct in East Harlem, according to police sources.
