Police searching for Peter Gerold (left) have arrested Taray Herring for alleged burglary and abuse of a corpse.
Police searching for Peter Gerold (left) have arrested Taray Herring for alleged burglary and abuse of a corpse.
US detectives investigating the disappearance of a 70-year-old massage therapist uncovered a grisly trail of human remains that led them an appalling discovery: deep-fried human hands and feet.
Police in Philadelphia were working on a missing persons case involving Peter Gerold, a 70 year-old who worked as a massage therapist and kept a large collection of exotic animals, when they stopped a rented truck leaving his property last Thursday.
Police, who had been at the property the day prior for a welfare check, pulled the truck over and quizzed the two people in the vehicle.
The Philadephia Inquirer reported that the driver immediately told officers: "I don't want anything to do with this, and there's a body in the back."
A search of the truck revealed dismembered body parts in a rubbish bag and subsequent interviews with the passenger, convicted sex offender Taray Herring, revealed an even darker truth.
Taray Herring has a long criminal history. Photo / Supplied
The 47-year-old reportedly told cops where they could find another stash of body parts, this time deep-fried hands and feet hidden behind a row of shops.
A person's legs were also found - not deep-fried.
Police have yet to identify the remains, but said that a torso was found in the truck and it was consistent with that of an adult male.
The driver was released without charge but Herring, who has a long criminal history, was charged with burglary and abuse of a corpse, amongst other charges.
Police said they first visited Gerold's property after a contact from another state said they hadn't heard from him in some time, but officers did not enter the home.
Corporal Jasmine Reilly, a police spokeswoman, told the Inquirer that the house appeared to be properly secured and there was nothing suspicious in plain sight.
"We don't just kick people's doors in," she said. "There must be a reason why we go in there."
After the discovery of the torso in the truck, police returned to the home to search a detached garage on the property.
Neighbours said Peter Gerold had a kind nature. Photo / Supplied
Neighbours told local news station CBSN Philly that they hadn't seen Gerold in around a week and feared that someone had taken advantage of his giving nature.
"He helped out a lot of people, so you know it was somebody that he probably helped out at one point that came back and did this to him," one neighbour said.
"It sounds like something out of a movie or something," neighbour Tiffany McLean added.
"I can't really, I'm still trying to process it myself."
Animal protection officers also removed a number of exotic animals from the property.
Sarah Barnett, a spokeswoman for Animal Care and Control, said the haul included 30 parrots, several bearded dragons, tortoises, and koi carp and beehives from the backyard.
Barnett said it appeared that Gerold was breeding the birds for sale and noted they were "very highly sought-after" and can be worth thousands of dollars each.
