FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - Police said they are investigating the discovery of a woman’s body next to a dumpster in a Fort Lauderdale neighborhood as a homicide.
7Skyforce hovered above several Fort Lauderdale Police officers as they surrounded the blue dumpster located next to several single-story apartment buildings near Northwest Third Street and 15th Way, just north of Broward Boulevard and the Fort Lauderdale Police Station, Wednesday morning.
According to investigators, officers responded in reference to a dead body just before 7:30 a.m. They pronounced the woman deceased.
7News has learned the woman’s body was covered by pieces of cardboard.
On the other side of the fence next to the dumpster is North Fork Elementary School.
“You have kids getting up early in the morning, going to school, having to catch the bus, so how many people walked by that body this morning,” said a concerned resident.
A woman who lives nearby told 7News her son saw something that seemed a little suspicious on Tuesday night.
“He saw a man and a lady in an alley that – they were smoking, and that was about it,” she said. “He said the man looked bad, but that was about it, like health wise, or maybe he wasn’t feeling good. These apartments are always empty, so it could possibly be a squatter, you know, it could be anybody.”
Area residents said they are worried about squatters who hang out behind these apartments. 7News cameras captured several empty apartments with broken locks and shattered glass just feet away from where the woman was found.
“We have homeless people on the back side of fences that are supposed to protect us but they don’t protect us. It’s not really safe,” said a resident.
Hours after the discovery, authorities removed the woman’s body.
Now, residents are left wondering who the woman is and how she ended up dead.
“That’s someone’s life. It’s kind of shaken up our neighborhood,” said an area resident.
“For me, it hurts because that’s somebody’s life. No one has the right to take anyone’s life,” said another resident.
“And no one–all these kids that go to this school, they traffic through here to get to the school and nobody noticed this? At three, four, five, six-o-clock in the morning? It’s sad!” said a third person.
Detectives said they initially didn’t see any injuries on the woman’s body. They did not disclose the woman’s age or details about the body’s condition as they attempt to determine the circumstances surrounding this incident.
If you have any information on this crime, call Broward County Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a reward of up to $5,000.
Copyright 2025 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.