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Home / World

Investigation after teens in TikTok video find body parts in suitcase at Seattle beach

By Phoebe Loomes
news.com.au·
9 Jul, 2020 06:30 AM2 mins to read

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Teens making a TikTok video discovered a suitcase stuffed with dismembered body parts. Photo / Tik Tok

Teens making a TikTok video discovered a suitcase stuffed with dismembered body parts. Photo / Tik Tok

Police have identified the remains of two people whose dismembered bodies were stuffed into a suitcase and discovered by teens in Seattle on a viral TikTok video last month.

The teenagers were making videos and using the exploration app Randonautica when they made the gruesome discovery on June 19.

The video shows teens discovering the suitcase on a rocky breakwall below a jetty at the shore at Alki Beach in west Seattle.

They approach the bag and use sticks to open it, discovering another stuffed garbage bag inside.

"As soon as she opened it, the smell was overwhelming," the video said.

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The teens said they became "scared and nervous" they'd discovered a body and called authorities. The later part of the video shows the street at Alki Beach filled with police cars and fire engines.

The teens found the suitcase while using exploration app Randonautica. Photo / Tik Tok
The teens found the suitcase while using exploration app Randonautica. Photo / Tik Tok

Seattle Police also foundanother bag in the water, also containing dismembered human remains.

The victims have been identified as Jessica Lewis, 36, and her boyfriend Austin Wenner, 27.

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Both deaths have been ruled a homicide.

Lewis and Wenner were described as "good people" by Gina Jaschke, who said her niece left behind four children. Wenner, who was Lewis' long-time boyfriend, was known as "Cash" to his friends.

Teens making a TikTok video discovered a suitcase stuffed with dismembered body parts. Photo / Tik Tok
Teens making a TikTok video discovered a suitcase stuffed with dismembered body parts. Photo / Tik Tok

The King County Medical Examiner has ruled Lewis was shot multiple times, and Wenner died of a single gunshot. They were killed on June 16, according to investigators, three days before their bodies were found.

The victim's family members have now set up a GoFundMe to raise funds in the hopes they can offer a $10,000 reward to anyone with information.

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