Local News in Brief : 2 Severed Legs Found; Public Asked for Help

Police asked for the public’s help Tuesday in determining the identity of a victim whose severed legs were found alongside the San Diego Freeway in the Sepulveda area.

A Department of Transportation worker found the legs inside two garbage bags in a brushy area near the Nordhoff off-ramp on the northbound freeway Oct. 3, said Detective Jerry Stephens of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Robbery Homicide Division. Investigators believe the legs, which were badly decomposed, had been severed 5 to 10 days before they were found, Stephens said.

Officials of the Los Angeles County coroner’s office believe the legs may have come from a white, Asian or Hispanic woman thought to be 5 feet, 2 inches to 5 feet, 5 inches tall, he said.

Police said articles of clothing were found inside the bags and two photographs were nearby. Found were a woman’s black, sheer blouse, a short, yellow jacket with gold buttons and military-type insignia and a toddler’s pink skirt with matching shorts attached underneath, Stephens said.

Police said they are not sure the photos are linked to the contents of the bags because the area where they were found was littered with trash.

One of the photos is of two women, and the other of one woman. All three are described as white with long brown hair and 18 to 23 years old, Stephens said.