Authorities identify woman found dead in trash can in Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES - An investigation continues after a Los Angeles resident made a gruesome discovery in the San Fernando Valley.

On Tuesday morning, officers with the Los Angeles Police Department received a call from someone who reported that they had found a body inside a trash can in the 8500 block of Wentworth Street, located between Sherman Grove and Oro Vista avenues, in the Sunland neighborhood.

Will Elliott, the homeowner who made the gruesome discovery, tells FOX 11 he found an entire black trash bin lying on its side.

"When I picked it up, it was a little bit heavy," Elliott said. "I noticed the lid was zip-tied shut, like they poked holes in it and zip-tied it."

Elliott called the non-emergency police line to report the tightly-shut trash bin. No one picked it up and he called the city.

"I gave them all the info. Told them it's weird that it's zip-tied," Elliott said. "Its serial number was scratched off and so they said that within 24 hours they're going to send an animal disposal unit out to pick it up."

Around 10:30 a.m., gardeners in the area noticed the foul smell coming from the zip-tied bin and alerted a neighbor who called 911. That was when the body, later identified as 32-year-old Heather Haas, was found.

No arrests have been announced in the case and the circumstances leading up to her body ending up in the trash can remain under investigation.