DURHAM, N.C. (WNCN) – A startling discovery was made just after 6 p.m. Monday after a body was found inside a trash can along Rosewood Street.

It comes just a few weeks after a tree service worker found a man dead in a wooded area on East End Avenue in Durham.

“I couldn’t figure out what was going on,” a Rosewood Street resident told CBS 17.

Those who live near this most recent discovery were shaken by it and several neighbors tell CBS 17 the body is that of a woman. 

One person we spoke with, who just wanted to go by her first name of Shonnie, is a single mother with young children at home.

“It makes me concerned because if something like that is going on in your backyard while you’re sleeping… obviously probably while you’re sleeping, because nobody does these types of acts of violence in daylight,” she said.

Neighbors across the street from the home where the body was found said it’s been vacant for nearly eight years. Shonnie said the person who takes care of the yard discovered the body. Detectives knocked on her door, asking if she was missing a trash bin. 

Larry Smith is a former deputy chief with DPD and said these situations are not common.

“Something like this where you find a body, the first they’re going to do is determine the cause of death,” the Durham County Fraternal Order of Police spokesman said. “Is it indeed a suspicious death? Does it appear to be a homicide? Or could it be a natural death? Or could it be a suicide?”

“I just pray they can find out whoever this is and bring this lady, whoever she is, and her family some justice,” Shonnie said. “Because it’s awful.”

Police have not determined a cause of death.