Firefighters at Station 22 on South Hydraulic Avenue were settling into their evening routine Wednesday when two people walked up to the building holding a heavy suitcase. It was about 6:25 p.m. in Wichita when the visitors dropped the bag and told the fire crew something horrifying. They said there was a human body inside the luggage.
Fire crews immediately dialed emergency dispatch for an urgent police response. Officers rushed to the scene on South Hydraulic, opened the bag, and found 67-year-old Lorretta Moody inside. Paramedics pronounced her dead right there inside the station, turning the neighborhood firehouse into an active crime scene.
When police ran Moody’s name through their system, they discovered she was already in their files. Her family had filed an official missing-person report earlier that same Wednesday morning. Police suddenly had a major homicide case on their hands with a strange chain of events.
Officers immediately detained the two people who hauled the suitcase into Fire Station 22. Detectives took them to police headquarters to ask how they ended up with the luggage and what they knew about Moody. Investigators are trying to figure out if these two were involved in her death or if they simply stumbled upon the bag.
Wichita police detectives spent the following days interviewing witnesses and collecting evidence around the city. They canvassed nearby neighborhoods and pulled video footage from traffic and business cameras. Their main goal is building an exact timeline from when Moody vanished Wednesday morning to when the suitcase arrived at the firehouse.
Police officials announced that they do not believe there is any active threat to the general public in Wichita. However, detectives are treating the case as a full homicide investigation. They are keeping tight-lipped about potential motives or cause of death while forensic results remain pending.
The bizarre discovery at Station 22 has left the local community on edge as the investigation continues. Detectives are urging anyone with information about Moody or the two individuals to contact homicide investigators at 316-268-4407. With no arrests officially announced yet, the city waits for answers on how a missing woman ended up at a fire station door.
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