City police and the Allegheny County medical examiner's office are investigating the death of a woman found cut in half and placed in separate plastic bags in North Point Breeze.

Police found the body of a black woman at about 10:35 a.m. in a wooded area in the 6700 block of Simonton Street, about 25 yards up from Fifth Avenue and a block from a railway and the East Busway. An autopsy was being done this afternoon.

Police said they have identified the woman but are not releasing her name pending notification of her family.

Police said the woman was cut in half at the waist, with her lower and upper body wrapped in black plastic bags.

Detectives suspect the body was there for a couple of days. A woman walking her dog came across the bags on Monday at about 2 p.m. but thought they contained a dead animal.

While walking there again today, she became suspicious because she'd seen a TV news report about a missing woman. When she poked one of the bags with a stick and tore a hole in it, she saw a hand protruding and called police.

Police said they don't yet know the age of the woman or what was used to cut her in half.