Homeless 19-Year-Old Girl Found Dead, Wrapped In Plastic, At Manhattan Fish Market; 2 Arrested

Two men have been arrested after a 19-year-old girl's body, wrapped in plastic, was found at a lower Manhattan building Saturday.

Austin Boehm, 25, and Christian Mercado, 20, were arrested Sunday on charges of murder after the teen’s body was found wrapped in plastic on the second floor of an abandoned building at Manhattan Fulton Fish Market.

Boehm and Mercedo called 911 on Saturday morning and informed the cops about the dead body found inside the vacant building. The investigators responded to the emergency call and found the two men alone with the victim’s body.

The investigators later identified the victim as Rosalee Sanchez, who was reportedly living inside the homeless encampment in the abandoned fish market, according to the local news outlet NY Daily News. The suspects are also homeless, according to the sources.

One of the suspects is Sanchez’s boyfriend. He reportedly told the police that Sanchez “had been led” to the warehouse weeks ago, reported news outlet NY Post.

Initial investigation did not reveal any signs of trauma or injury on the victim’s body. The city medical examiner was scheduled to conduct an autopsy to determine the cause of death.

“Right now, we simply don’t know what happened. We are waiting for the M.E. [medical examiner] to tell us,” an NYPD spokesman said.

The police reportedly found a fresh pool of blood from an adjacent room where the body was recovered.

The two suspects have been uncooperative with the officials since they were taken into custody for investigation, sources said. They have been charged with second-degree murder, reported local news outlet ABC7 NY.

In a similar incident, a teen boy has been arrested in Grand Junction, Colorado, after the police found human remains wrapped in a plastic bag. Brian Cohee II, 19, was arrested March 1, on charges of first-degree murder. The police identified the victim as 69-year-old Warren Barnes, a resident of Grand Junction, reported news outlet NBC11 News. Cohee II was charged with first-degree murder, tampering with physical evidence and tampering with a deceased human body. The investigators determined that the alleged murder happened on Feb. 27.