DELRAY BEACH, Fla. – Eli Etzler still hasn’t fully absorbed what happened on July 21 when he found a suitcase full of human remains just off the Intracoastal Waterway in Delray Beach.
“I don’t really know how to explain it, how to like put it into context, no one really does when you see something like that, it’s just like it really grabs a hold of you and doesn’t let you go,” Etzler said.
The pool technician was working at his home when he smelled something disturbing.
“Maybe it’s low tide smell because it was low tide at the time, so I really didn’t think nothing of it, but that’s when like I turned my head to the side, I saw that suitcase covered in flies, and that’s when I was like ‘Huh, that’s not good,’” he said. “I got my pool pole in the lid, I opened the bag and a foot just flew out.”
It was something he said “just completely shocked me and blew my mind. I called 911 immediately, and it’s just the most crazy thing I’ve ever, ever seen in my life.”
That suitcase was the second of five bags eventually found, filled with the remains of Aydil Barbosa Fontes, 80.
“When the cops arrived at the house and they said ‘This is the second one we found today’ and then I was like ‘what?’” Etzler said. “And then they were like ‘no, actually within the past hour.’”
Authorities arrested her husband, William Lowe, 78, on Thursday. He’s been charged with killing her and then using a chainsaw to dismember her.
“It’s like something out of a movie, it really is something out of a movie,” Etzler said.
Investigators say they found evidence of a crime scene in their Delray Beach home and the chainsaw, still covered in human remains, in his storage unit.
The two had been married for about 15 years.
“I’m really happy that the dude’s behind bars and they found out who did this because it’s just really, really, really dark,” Etzler said.
Lowe appeared in court Thursday and the judge gave him no bond. Investigators said a motive is still unclear.