The dismembered remains found in two duffel bags along Kaohsiung’s Love River (愛河) this week were yesterday identified as belonging to an elderly man, police said
Two sanitation workers from the Kaohsiung Environmental Protection Bureau found one bag floating in the water while cleaning the river banks on Monday, police said.
They took it to a nearby garbage depot, and then found a similar black duffel bag on the river the next day.
Photo: Chen Wen-chan, Taipei Times
After seeing traces of blood leaking from the second bag, one worker opened it and found decomposing human remains.
A forensic examination found that the victim was a man, aged 70 to 80, who was about 1.6m tall and weighed more than 80kg, said Weng Shih-min (翁士閔), captain of the investigation unit at the Sanmin First Precinct.
Police are focusing on missing persons reports in the city and going through surveillance camera footage to see if there has been any suspicious activity along the river’s banks in the past few days, Weng said.
He appealed to the public for help, urging people to check up on older family members.
“We believe the victim was killed about three days ago, as the body parts were waterlogged and starting to decompose, but not too badly,” Weng said.
Samples were taken from the remains for evidence and DNA testing, as well as fingerprints, he said, adding that the results would be available in the next few days.
The case would be investigated as a homicide, as investigators found bruises and the internal organs were ruptured, indicating that the victim was severely beaten before he died, Weng said.
The killer or killers tried to cover up the crime by placing a dumbell in each bag to weigh the bags down, he added.
Investigators speculated that the victim might have been beaten to death because of a financial dispute or unpaid gambling debts.
In related news, Taipei police said that a body was found floating in Sindian River (新店溪) yesterday morning.
The body was identified as a man surnamed Chen (陳), who was in his 70s.
He had been living with his family in New Taipei City and a suicide note was found, police said.
Chen’s body was found floating near Yongfu Bridge (永福橋) that connects Taipei and New Taipei City’s Yonghe District (永和), police said.
Chen likely drowned himself after he left home on Tuesday, as his family said that he had a chronic illness and depression, police said.
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman
‘POOP ON STAGE’: The song, which talks about the reluctance to graduate and anxiety about a lack of job opportunities, resonated with many students’ feelings The original song Poop on Stage has been chosen as National Taiwan University’s (NTU) graduation song this year, sparking much debate regarding the song’s title and content, which describes students’ anxiety about post-graduation unemployment. The title, Shang Tai Da Bian (上台大便), is a play on words that literally means “go on stage to poop.” The first three characters, shang tai da (上台大), also mean “to attend NTU,” as “Taida” is a common abbreviation for the university. The last character, bian (便), can mean “convenient” or “then,” but is more commonly associated with defecation. The lyrics of the song describe students’ reluctance to graduate and
RSS