By Brooklynn Wong
A woman’s body was found in a dumpster in Anaheim last week. It prompted an all-hands-on-deck whirlwind investigation that resulted, the very next day, in the arrest of a man trying to flee the country.
In the early morning hours of Oct. 30, the body was found in the 2100 block of South Balboa Plaza—a block containing an apartment complex and numerous alleyways and dumpsters—by an individual looking through the dumpster for recyclables.
The body was intact but stuffed in a large duffel bag, and was later identified as Tiyanie Ly, 38, a mother of three from Santa Ana.
Over the course of that day, and part of the next, Anaheim PD was able to first identify the suspect as Amer Alhasan, 28, of La Habra, who was dating Ly, and with the help of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection, determined that he was attempting to flee the country.
Alhasan, who is an American citizen, has family in Jordan, and had booked a flight to Jordan with an initial stop in Germany.
In the late afternoon of Oct. 31, officers contacted Alhasan at Los Angeles International Airport with two or three hours to spare before his flight, and took him into custody without incident. Alhasan was traveling alone, and had a “significant amount of personal belongings with him,” said APD Public Information Officer Sergeant Daron Wyatt at a press conference on Nov. 1, when asked if it appeared that Alhasan had been attempting to leave the country for good, with all his belongings in tow.
On Nov. 2, Alhasan was charged with murder, and faces a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in state prison. He will be arraigned on Nov. 15.
At the time of the press conference, APD announced that Alhasan was being held on $5 million bail, but that they were looking to take away the possibility of him being released on bail, as he has proven already to be a flight risk.
The case is still under investigation, so not many further details have yet been released. APD did say the crime was not committed at the dumpster, but that the crime scene could not yet be revealed.
Wyatt said investigators are trying to gain more information about the nature of Ly and Alhasan’s relationship, and ask that anyone who has information, or has even dated Alhasan before, get in touch with Crime Stoppers (1-855-TIP-OCCS).
They believe Alhasan has likely committed prior domestic violence and/or sexual assaults.
Wyatt called the arrest “incredible police work,” saying detectives “have slept [just] a couple hours in the last 72 hours.”
Neither Ly nor Alhasan was from Anaheim. It is unknown why that is where Ly’s body ended up.
Ly’s three young children are in the care of family.
Wyatt explained that when Ly’s family heard that a woman’s body had been found in a dumpster, they contacted APD and inquired whether it was her, as they had not seen her for some time.
