Samuel Haskell, 35, was arrested Wednesday in connection with an "unidentified female torso" found in a dumpster on Ventura Boulevard and Rubio Avenue, the
Los Angeles Police Department said in a news release. The LAPD said Haskell's wife, Mei Li Haskell, and her parents, Gaoshan Li and Yanxiang Wang, were all missing. The police said they were also searching for two missing vehicles: a white Volkswagen Tiguan and a white 2014
Nissan Pathfinder.
A group of laborers told
NBC Los Angeles that Haskell hired them on Tuesday and initially told them to move three bags full of rocks. But the laborers told the news outlet the bags felt soft and soggy, weighing about 50 pounds each, and they decided to look inside.
"I started seeing body parts, a belly button," one worker told NBC Los Angeles. "I was astonished. Of course, I felt bad. We had been tricked."
The worker said they drove back to Haskell's home, returned the money, and left the bags on the driveway. They added that they reported the incident to an LAPD station, were turned away, and told to call 911. The LAPD did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.