I really hope the local police are getting help. I'm honestly not sure this police department has ever had a murder before.

I read in one article (can't remember because I feel like I've read almost all of them) that there is a person of interest. I'm really curious who that is.

They had one a few years ago. It was at Drinks Saloon (directly behind my friend's house, across the creek) but that was in front of multiple people. They didn't really need to find a murderer. I haven't heard anything else.

ETA: Of the people I know from Gibraltar, no one knows her name. I wonder where she was from originally if not there?

While I generally always enjoy your posts and your reasoning behind them, I found the bolded sentence odd. I don't think you meant to imply that the murder/death would have been any less tragic had it was someone from Detroit, did you?

It would affect the fear factor in a different way. This is a town with a population of 5000 and the woman was found in a creek immediately behind her condo. That makes for a very fearful community. It wouldn't have been less tragic, but it wouldn't have instilled the kind of fear that this has. We wouldn't have been as worried about our teenager daughters going to school 1/4 mile down the street. We wouldn't be as afraid for ourselves.

It is tragic either way, but when you know there was a murderer who could do this in your own backyard, it's more unsettling. I think we all tend to have a sense of security in our neighborhood, even if it's not well founded in statistics. In this instance though, it IS founded in statistics. This is the fourth homicide in this city in the history of the city, which was founded in 1837.

So, we expect murders in Detroit. We don't expect them in Gibraltar. It doesn't make the murder any less tragic. It does affect how afraid we are.

ETA: PM_Mama: She is from Wayne originally.

Whoever did this really didn't want her to be able to be identified. Reports are now saying that not only were her head and hands missing to make identifying her more difficult but her tattoos were removed also. Given all of that, I am more convinced that it was not the brother because he is the one who told the police that it was her. If he didn't want her identified, he could have taken that suitcase and tossed it into the Detroit River with some cement and it would never have been found.

One of my sands is a Detroit Police officer (SWAT) and he told me on average there's about 8 murders in Detroit/day...to the point most of it doesn't even make the news. He sees these types of (dismembered body) murders often. Outside of Detroit, it's not very common.

ETA: With the exception of Flint, which in some areas is worse than Detroit.

Dee where are you getting your info? I can't find anything updated. It's very frustrating! I didn't hear anything about the tattoos. HOW SICK can someone be to do all this?!

It was in the Detroit News:

http://www.detnews.com/article/20110...nd-in-suitcase

I deleted my earlier statement about her tattoos being removed because I was afraid that it was "insider" information that could damage the case but then I thought for sure I had read it somewhere. I've added it back to the original post.

"Pamela Prpich had tattoos, and it appeared tattoos were removed from the body, police said."

They have arrested someone. Hope it's the right person. They've also found more of her parts (that is so hard to say).

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/28971523/detail.html

Police have said they'll release more details later this morning.

He confessed!

http://thenewsherald.com/articles/20...9900132575.txt

He confessed to dismembering her but not to murdering her. They still haven't established a cause of death. It's so creepy that he lived in the apartments right next door. Some reports are saying that they were both involved in some heavy drugs.

I'm glad he's behind bars. I will rest easier tonight.

Well they didn't have all the pieces before.

while I suppose she could have died and he decided he should pack some of her up in a suitcase or... something. He's going to be digging a big old hole trying to show that he didn't kill her too.

I do hope that they read him his rights and followed procedure so there's not a technicality that could be used to throw out the confession.

That is exactly why many serial killers are able to amass many, many victims before they're caught. They're charming and charismatic and are skilled at luring intended victims into bad situations, often against their own instincts and better judgement.

His name has leaked to the press and some more details are coming out. This was the last person she had talked to her on her cell phone. He bought several containers of bleach at the little store right next to the condo complex and police were alerted to this "unusual" behavior. He was a regular at this store. The police took him in for questioning after two nights in a row of buying large amounts of bleach when he confessed to dismembering her (but not to murdering her). So, if they were into some heavy drugs and she OD'd or something, I guess he could be afraid to call anybody about it because he'd get in trouble. We'll see if that's what actually happened.

Other articles also say that the brother talked to this guy when he was going door to door trying to find his sister.

Oh yeah, and the guy is a butcher.

how the heck can anyone just chop up a body like that? it freaks me out just seeing a dead body. i hope he fries.

I'm thinking drugs plus being a butcher?

He won't fry.. we don't have the death penalty here. He's also dying of cancer according to another neighbor. He's on oxygen. It's all so bizarre. I don't know that he'll live long enough to go to trial because that can take a long time in most instances.