Investigation continues into Queens duffel bag murder mystery
FOREST HILLS, Queens (WABC) -- New posters line the streets of a neighborhood in Queens as investigators work to piece together the mystery surrounding the death of woman whose body was found stuffed in a duffel bag.
The medical examiner determined 51-year-old Orsolya Gaal was stabbed dozens of times, and her killer remains on the loose, leaving the normally quiet neighborhood on edge.
"I've been stressed out over it to be quite honest with you," said one neighbor who didn't want her name used. "It's just in your backyard. It's just so close to where I live, and even though I know that there was no forced entry and maybe there was some kind of story behind everything, I still feel, as a woman, I don't feel safe in the city, to be quite honest with you."
Gaal's body was discovered in Forest Park in Kew Gardens, beneath the Jackie Robinson Parkway, just after 8 a.m. Saturday.
A person walking in the park noticed blood coming from the bag, which was laying on the ground near the corner of Metropolitan Avenue and Forest Park Drive.
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Shortly after that, police discovered a second crime scene at 72-24 Juno Street in Forest Hills, with blood there matching the victim's.
The victim was out with female friends in Manhattan Friday night, while her husband was out of town with the couple's oldest son. She returned home, went to a local Forest Hills restaurant, was there alone, and either met her killer as she was leaving or when she was at home.
Investigators say the killer dragged her body in the duffel bag nine blocks through the neighborhood in the middle of the night before dumping it prior to daybreak.
There were no signs of forced entry at her home, leading detectives to believe she knew her killer.
"The key here is, who was she with?" former NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said. "What was happening in her life? What was going on? Who she's speaking to, what social circles she ran in, and all these things need to be considered."
The couple's other son, 13, was upstairs at the time but did not know what happened.
Police said the victim had the numbers of three men in her cell phone, and detectives are specifically looking to talk one of those men.
He is not a suspect, a person of interest or in custody.
The man has familiarity with the victim's home and may have had a way to access it.
He has a prior history with the victim that fits the current narrative and makes him interesting to detectives.
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Gaal is believed to have put up a fight, with defensive wounds on her body, before she was ultimately killed.
After the murder, a threatening text was sent to her husband from his wife's phone, warning him that his "whole family is next."
A $3,500 Crime Stoppers reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest
Anyone who may have information to contact the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
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