Human remains found in luggage found on property outside of San Antonio.

Local sheriffs are investigating after they found human remains in luggage at a rural property outside of San Antonio.

On Thursday morning, the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office received a call about a suspicious package in the house. Sheriff Javier Salazar said at a press conference that people who had been feeding the animals while the home’s owners were out of town noticed luggage in the middle of the house.

According to Salazar, the sheriff’s office launched an investigation and made a gruesome discovery.

“There really wasn’t much effort to hide the body other than it was in a suitcase,” the sheriff said at a press conference.

The identity and gender of the man whose remains were found are unclear, the sheriff said. It is also unclear how long the remains were in this location.

“While the first guess, of course, is to assume that this is the site of a murder, at the moment all we know is that we have partial human remains and we will not be able to determine the cause of death, the manner of death, or the identity of the victim for some time to come,” Salazar said.

He said that the medical examiner and the fireman would help deal with the scene. Salazar said the fireman would help when evaluating “some areas of interest” where there appeared to be attempts to burn. The sheriff noted that the fire may not be related to the recovered body, but the fire chief will investigate if there is any connection.

“We are getting a search warrant to finish processing the scene, and at this stage we can learn a little more. But at this point it is still too early to tell if the person was killed here or was brought here in this luggage and then dumped here,” the sheriff added.

According to the sheriff, the property owners are cooperating with the investigation.

Bexar County is located in south Texas. As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of just over 2 million.