New York City housing workers discovered a heavy plastic bag in a basement room at the Borinquen Plaza complex in Williamsburg around 9:38 a.m. Sunday and found a woman’s dismembered body inside, police said. On Monday, officials identified the victim as Michelle Montgomery, 39, of Brooklyn.
Police say the discovery has launched a major investigation that now spans the basement corridors of 330 Bushwick Ave. and Montgomery’s neighborhood several miles away. Detectives are reviewing camera footage, interviewing building staff and residents, and awaiting the medical examiner’s findings on cause and manner of death. The case has rattled a dense stretch of public housing where residents have long raised concerns about access doors and nonresidents in common areas. As of Tuesday, no arrests had been announced, and authorities have not said whether Montgomery had any connection to the Williamsburg complex where her remains were found.
According to officials, a janitor working on the lower level noticed a bag that seemed unusually heavy shortly after 9:30 a.m. Sunday and alerted colleagues. When workers opened the bag, they saw human remains and called 911. Officers arrived minutes later, sealed off a compactor-adjacent utility room and requested crime-scene specialists. By early afternoon, detectives had begun canvassing the building, moving floor by floor to pull video from lobby and elevator cameras and to take statements from staff with keys to restricted areas. “It didn’t look like regular trash,” said a maintenance employee who declined to give his full name. “We knew something was wrong and called the police.” Montgomery was formally identified Monday after family notification.
Authorities said the body had been cut into pieces and placed in the bag, which was found near a silver maintenance door along the basement corridor. The Office of Chief Medical Examiner will determine how and when Montgomery died; results are pending. Police listed her residence as Boerum Hill and noted that investigators have not publicly identified a suspect or established a clear motive. Detectives are tracing Montgomery’s recent movements, including the hours before her disappearance, and comparing them against any time-stamped video and phone records. Officials did not say whether the bag or room yielded fingerprints or other recoverable forensic evidence. The exact time the remains were left in the basement is not yet known.
Borinquen Plaza, a New York City Housing Authority development along Bushwick Avenue, includes multiple mid-rise buildings with basement service corridors that are typically restricted to staff. Residents said deliveries and maintenance frequently route through the lower level, where compactor rooms and utility spaces are accessed by key. Over the past year, tenants have raised unrelated complaints about unsecured doors and strangers in hallways. Records show patrol cars and housing officers make periodic checks, but most calls involve low-level disturbances or building issues. Police have not linked those prior concerns to Montgomery’s killing, and officials emphasized they are focused on assembling a clear timeline from Sunday morning back through the prior day.
Detectives outlined early procedural steps: establishing Montgomery’s last confirmed sighting; collecting surveillance from the building and nearby streets; and reviewing access logs, elevator records and any contractor sign-ins for the days leading up to the discovery. Investigators are also seeking tips from anyone who might have noticed unusual activity around the basement or compactor areas. Standard forensic work includes swabbing the bag and door surfaces, testing for trace evidence and comparing any recovered DNA with databases. Once the medical examiner issues preliminary findings, detectives will determine whether additional search warrants are needed for digital data or vehicles, and whether the case points to a known location of death apart from the basement where the remains were recovered.
Montgomery’s identification on Monday clarified some details but left key questions unanswered. Police have not released her exact movements in the hours before her death, nor have they said whether she was reported missing. Relatives described Montgomery as a mother of four and said they were waiting for official word on what happened. Neighbors at Borinquen Plaza described a swift law-enforcement response that began with a narrow corridor sealed by police tape and widened to the building’s entrance. “We saw officers rushing downstairs and then the tape went up,” said a resident who lives two floors above the basement and asked not to be named. By evening, investigators had removed several large evidence bags and closed off the lower level to tenants.
Williamsburg and neighboring Bushwick have seen occasional high-profile police scenes inside residential basements, usually tied to building systems or storage areas that the general public rarely enters. Housing authority basements across the city vary in layout, but many include compactors, custodial closets and mechanical rooms set behind steel doors with limited access. In past years, tenants’ associations have urged tighter controls on basement entries and functional locks on exterior doors. Citywide, the medical examiner’s office typically performs autopsies within days when foul play is suspected, with toxicology extending timelines if needed. Those steps, officials said, will guide whether the case is immediately classified as homicide and what charges could follow.
From here, the investigation moves on two tracks. The medical examiner will conduct a full autopsy and share preliminary findings with detectives, who will continue building a timeline from witness accounts and video. If police identify a person of interest, they could seek search warrants for residences, storage units or vehicles, and present any arrest to Brooklyn Criminal Court. If the crime scene suggests additional locations, detectives could pursue secondary searches and dive or landfill checks depending on disposal evidence. Officials did not announce any briefings or release a schedule for updates but said new details will be provided once verified. In the interim, the basement level at 330 Bushwick Ave. remains closed to residents while evidence processing continues.
By Tuesday afternoon, police said no arrests had been made and that the medical examiner’s work was ongoing. Investigators are still working to determine the sequence of events that led to the discovery and whether the killing occurred on-site or elsewhere before the remains were brought to the basement. Further updates are expected once autopsy results are available and detectives complete the initial round of interviews and video reviews.
Author note: Last updated February 3, 2026.