Police say a homeless person discovered the body. He called police after finding the woman in a dumpster near Harvey and Maple.
The victim is a 52-year-old Cambodian woman who was living in Southeast Fresno. Investigators have not released her name. Right now, they're interviewing people who knew her, hoping it will lead them to a suspect.
A trash-filled street in East Central Fresno is where the woman's body was found. Police say, around 9 o'clock Sunday morning, a man was sifting through a dumpster, when he made the gruesome discovery.
Lt. Mark Salazar said, "At that time, we knew we had a death investigation, we just didn't know if we had a murder at that time. Today, the autopsy was completed. The female was shot and this led to her death."
Detectives don't know exactly how long the woman had been there, but say, it was no more than a few days. The street is known for dumping. Still, neighbors in the area, tell Action News they never saw anything suspicious. Laura Quezadas and her family live just steps away.
Laura Quezadas said, "There was cops out there and an ambulance for a couple hours, but they didn't come and tell us anything."
Without a suspect, investigators are having trouble figuring out why the woman was killed. They say, she has been in trouble with the law before. They're now relying on those incidents to help them move forward with this case.
Lt. Mark Salazar said, "She's had contact with the Fresno Police department and we're trying to figure out if those contacts led to her death."
In the meantime, residents here hope this latest murder will force law enforcement to focus on the area, by patrolling it more often.
Jose Pereira said, "Does it concern you? It sure does, but what can we do? It's up to our city people, they're supposed to keep our streets clean and make it safer."
According to Fresno Police, the woman has at least four children.
The murder marks the 31st in Fresno for the year, compared to 39 this time, last year.
