Sex offender arrested when police find dismembered hands and feet 'deep-fried'

A registered sex offender was arrested after police found a human torso in a U-Haul truck he was riding in, and discovered other body parts dumped and "deep-fried."

The gruesome incident unfolded in Philadelphia on Thursday morning, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Police were called to the address of a home after witnesses said that they witnessed what they thought was a burglary. The police followed a U-Haul truck that drove away from the home and then pulled it over. The officers questioned a driver and his passenger.

The officers said that the driver told them, "'I don't want anything to do with this, and there's a body in the back."

In the back of the truck they discovered the torso in a garbage bag.

Police detained both men, and identified the passenger as Taray Herring, 47, of Philadelphia. After speaking to Herring, police searched dumpsters at a strip mall near the home and they discovered more body parts in garbage bags.

Among those were dismembered hands and feet that police said were "deep-fried." They also found "cut-up" legs that were not deep-fried.

The police later released the driver without charges.

Police spokesperson Cpl. Jasmine Reilly told reporters in a media briefing Saturday that the Medical Examiner's Office was trying to confirm the identity of the victim. Property records indicated that the owner of the home where the burglary had been reported was Peter Gerold, who was to celebrate his birthday on Monday.

Gerold had run a massage business out of his home.

Police confirmed that they had been called to the same address on Wednesday on a welfare check call, but found nothing suspicious.

"We don't just kick people's doors in," Reilly said. "There must be a reason why we go in there."

Herring was charged with burglary, abuse of corpse, criminal trespass, theft, and tampering with evidence. He was held without bail. Prior to these charges he had registered as a sex offender and had been arrested on numerous charges including burglary, criminal trespass, and theft.

Police said they were still investigating what happened.

Here's a local news video about the gruesome incident:

Dismembered body found in moving truck in Philly; man arrestedwww.youtube.com