Woman found dead in trash compactor at condo building identified

An employee at a 29-story condominium tower in Manhattan stumbled across a gruesome sight.

The building employee found a woman stuffed in a trash compactor in the complex at about 5 p.m. Tuesday, according to the New York Police Department.

A resident of the building, 48-year-old Lara Prychenko, was unconscious and unresponsive, police said, and pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators have recovered surveillance video showing Prychenko's leaving her purse in an elevator and walking off, the NYPD said. Prychenko went out of view before she reached the trash compactor.

There is no immediate criminality, the NYPD said, because no one else is seen on the video.

The building, Zeckendorf Towers, is located at 1 Irving Place next to Union Square in Lower Manhattan.