Cops hunt ‘murderer’ in dismember case
THE LAST day Brandy Odom was seen alive, the NYPD had sent a letter to the Brooklyn woman to ask if she was still interested in becoming a school safety agent.
She never responded to the April 1 missive — and now Odom is the subject of a homicide investigation, with detectives trying to figure out who dumped her dismembered body Monday in Canarsie Park.
The medical examiner’s office has yet to release an official determination on how the 26-year-old died.
But police said they’re certain she was murdered. “We’re investigating this as if it’s a homicide,” a police official said Friday.
Detectives suspect a knife — described by police sources as a saw — found in garbage can in the park was used to dismember Odom.
They also believe she was killed within 24 hours of the gruesome Monday night discovery of her naked torso and head.
A dog walker found Odom’s upper body, which was partially covered with leaves, police said.
Odom’s severed arms, legs and other body parts were later found in plastic bags in other parts of the park.
The official said that April 1 appears to be a significant day in her mysterious case — police have accounted for her whereabouts before then, but can’t say where she was on that day or in the days since.
“We’re asking for the public’s help,’’ the official said. “Anyone who saw her or knows where she was should call Crime Stoppers” at (800) 577-8477.
Meanwhile, the medical examiner’s determination of the time of death has allowed detectives to narrow their search for video.
Detectives suspect someone drove to or near the park, then carried Odom’s remains onto the grounds, sources said.
Odom was identified by a distinctive tattoo — the word “Chocolate” above her left breast.
Cops from the 69th Precinct released details about the marking in the hopes of identifying the body — and Odom’s family knew the worst had happened as soon as they heard, relatives said.
She worked for a security company but had apparently at some point expressed an interest in becoming a school safety agent.
She took the test and passed it, but never showed up for processing — which prompted the NYPD’s April 1 letter. At a vigil at the park Thursday night, some suggested police were not doing enough to find out how the young woman met such a terrible end.
Her mother, Nicole Odom, complained that police were telling the media more than they had told her.
“I just want justice done for my baby,” the grieving mother said Thursday.
“She was still my baby. Nobody had the right to play God and take a life. It wasn’t her time to go. All I want is justice for Brandy. Justice for my Chocolate. Don’t throw my daughter under the doormat. I’m going to do everything in my power to find this monster. Let justice be served,” she said.
But an NYPD official said the investigation is a top priority.
“Sometimes, there are steps we take that are not obvious to the public — and that’s on purpose,” the official said.
“We have a murderer we’re trying to catch.”
Police sources said it was likely Odom was strangled before being dismembered.
Odom did some work as a hairdresser and lived with an aunt at the Bayview Houses in Canarsie — about 15 blocks from the thatch of trees where her head and torso turned up.
Brandy “was a sweet girl,” said Terell Hunter, 33, who lived in the same building as Odom.
“I just had tears in my eyes when I heard — it’s crazy. I can’t believe what they did to that girl.”