Mystery Surrounding Woman Found Dead in Suitcase Deepens

The still unidentified woman whose body was found in a suitcase at Los Angeles International Airport on Monday probably was Middle Eastern, rather than Asian, as originally assumed, the Los Angeles County coroner’s office said Thursday.

The woman, thought to be about 30 years old, is believed to have stowed away on an international flight to Los Angeles. The coroner’s office said she died of suffocation because of pressure on her chest, probably caused by heavy baggage piled on top of the soft-sided luggage that held her.

Pathologists said studies of the woman’s facial structure and other characteristics of her body led them to conclude that the woman was of Middle Eastern ethnic origin.

That conclusion further complicated the riddle of how the woman got to Los Angeles, because the carrousel on which the suitcase containing her was found had been used that day by flights from Singapore, Korea, Japan and West Germany, none of which originated in or passed through the Middle East.

Airport officials said the carrousel is accessable only to federal officials, airport personnel and arriving passengers, leading to the speculation that a passenger on her flight had planned to carry her out of the airport in the suitcase.

About 80% of the luggage that leaves the carrousel passes through customs and out of the airport without being opened, but investigators think the person who planned to pick up the suitcase containing the woman may have panicked and left without her.

One possibility is that the person had been tagged for a secondary customs inspection, meaning that any luggage he tried to carry out with him would be checked, according to Jack Francoise, an airport spokesman.

Another is that the person “could go over, say hello, and when she doesn’t answer, decide to leave her behind,” Christopher King, an airport customs supervisor, said.

Los Angeles police said Thursday that they doubt the woman was the missing wife of a man from Lima, Peru. Juan Espinoza told Peruvian authorities on Wednesday that he believed his wife may have smuggled herself into the United States in an effort to find a job to alleviate their poverty.

“That’s fine, except we didn’t have any planes in from Lima, Peru,” Pacific Division Detective Don Ravens said.

Detective Chuck Worthen said labels on the dead woman’s clothing were from Iran and she carried Iranian currency.

“Don’t be too surprised if you never find out where she came from, or who she is,” Ravens said.