The dismembered body discovered last month in a suitcase in South of Market has been identified by the San Francisco Medical Examiner’s Office as Omar Shahwan. The Vallejo man was known to frequent The City. His body was found on 11th Street between Market and Mission streets Jan. 28, according to the Medical Examiner’s Office. Some body parts were also found near the suitcase. The 58-year-old Shahwan had already been reported missing at the time of the gruesome discovery. “This case is actively being investigated with the cause and manner of death pending at this time,” the Medical Examiner’s Office said in a news release.
Police said there are no new developments in the case and the investigation is ongoing. Shahwan’s body was only partially recovered, so DNA identification was necessary. Still all of the body parts found were identified as his, which rules out that the remains were of more than one person. Vallejo police said they received a missing person report for Shahwan Feb. 3. So far, the only suspect arrested in the case was released without charges last week, then died soon after at San Francisco General Hospital. Mark Andrus, 54, of San Francisco was arrested Jan. 31 in connection with the body parts discovery. Police received a call that day from someone saying they had seen Andrus and recognized him from surveillance camera footage released by police that same day. The footage showed Andrus in the area where the body parts were found. Andrus was booked by police on murder charges, but on Feb. 3 the District Attorney’s Office announced that there was insufficient evidence to pursue the case. He was subsequently released. Public Defender Jeff Adachi accompanied Andrus after he was released and set him up in a residential hotel. Adachi said his client died of septic shock after being hospitalized for a drug-related reason.
