PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Officials have identified the young woman found inside a plastic tub in a South Philadelphia basement Thursday night.
Authorities say 18-year-old Erin Schweikert is the woman found wrapped in a plastic bag inside a storage container at 21st and Porter streets. Her body was badly decomposed but not dismembered, as sheriffs originally reported.
Officers were serving a warrant at the house when they noticed the smell of death. Inside, they found the teenager.
The teen had been missing since October. Her family said she met someone along Front Street in South Philadelphia and never returned home. Repeated phone calls and texts were never answered. They posted flyers and searched for her for months.
Erin has family that works for the city. She was deeply loved. When I did the story originally, her mom told me she would sing & dance in the kitchen while they were cooking. When she went missing, they hung posters, reached out for help, door knocked...they are now broken.
— Kristen Johanson (@KristenJohanson)
January 17, 2020 Authorities have been investigating the case for possible human or sex trafficking, but they have not yet found solid evidence. The Special Victims Unit is still working to determine why and how Schweikert went missing.
According to police, Schweikert was not dismembered, as originally reported by the Philadelphia Sheriff's Office, and there were no signs of trauma to the body.
The medical examiner is awaiting toxicology results, but her death has not been ruled a homicide. No charges have been filed.
Sources say, however, that some of the people who were inside the house when police discovered the body may face abuse of corpse charges.
