American Tourist's Body Found Stuffed In Suitcase In Bali, Daughter Arrested

The body of Sheia von Wiese Mack, an American tourist, was found stuffed into a suitcase in the boot of a taxi parked in front of the St. Regis Hotel, a five-star resort on the Indonesian island of Bali.

The 62-year-old Mack’s body was found with several wounds to her head, and she appeared to have died after a violent struggle, a doctor said, according to a report by The Australian. Mack was staying at the hotel with her 19-year-old daughter, Heather, and her daughter’s boyfriend, Tommy Schaefer, 21, both of whom have been arrested, the report added, citing local police chief Djoko Hari Utomo. Mack and her daughter had reportedly stayed together at the hotel for several days before Heather’s boyfriend joined them Monday.

The hotel's security cameras showed Mack arguing with Schaefer in the hotel lobby on the night of her death, Utomo reportedly said. The young couple reportedly checked out the next day and asked hotel staff to load several suitcases in to a taxi, including the one containing the victim’s body, but left the hotel property through the back.

The hotel's staff discovered Mack's body after the couple failed to turn up for the waiting taxi. Local police eventually found them later on Wednesday in another hotel in the tourist area of Legian, north of Nusa Dua.

“This is murder, and we will decide from our investigation whether it is premeditated or spontaneous,” he said.

A doctor said that the body, which was sent to a hospital in the Balinese capital of Denpasar for an autopsy, bore several wounds to the head that appeared to have been inflicted with “blunt tools.”

“Looking at the wounds, the victim must have fought back,” said Ida Bagus Alit, adding that one of the fingers on her left hand was broken, according to The Australian.

The U.S. embassy in Jakarta reportedly released a statement that it was “aware of the death of an American citizen that took place in Bali and we understand that two individuals have been arrested in connection with the case."

The St. Regis Hotel is a beachfront luxury resort and one the most exclusive hotels in Bali.