PITTSBURGH -- Authorities have identified a body found in two parts inside large, plastic bags in the Point Breeze area of Pittsburgh as that of a Greensburg woman.

Fingerprints were used to identify the woman as Marva Howard, 39, according to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner's office. No ruling has been made yet on the cause and manner of death.

The bags were discovered among some trees in a wooded area on Simonton Street, which is off Fifth Avenue. (See Map)

According to police, Howard lived a lifestyle that put her in dangerous situations.

Police said they believed she was staying with friends in Greensburg after being evicted from her apartment but that she frequented Homewood and East Liberty.

"She was turning her life around," said Howard's sister, Trina Williams. "She was on the right path, so we don't understand this. It's been devastating. She didn't deserve to die."

"We're a strong family," said Howard's brother, James Reed. "But right now, it's shocking."

Pittsburgh Police Lt. Dan Herrmann said the upper and lower parts of the woman's body were in separate bags, and one of them was double-bagged.

A Pennsylvania Department of Transportation worker called police when a woman walking her dog made the discovery, and a man flagged him down.

The woman told police that she poked one bag with a stick and the hand slipped out.

"It looked like it had been there a while, because of all the flies around," the PennDOT worker, Irwin Shapiro, told WTAE Channel 4 Action News. "The hand was purple, so rigor mortis might have been setting in."

Neighbors and passers-by said they first noticed the bags about 24 hours ago. They said there was an odor but they had no idea someone was inside.

"We were coming from the store at 1 p.m., and there was this profuse smell," said Tara Long. "But we believed it to be rodents."

City homicide detectives continue to investigate. Anyone with information is asked to contact authorities.

Monetary donations can be sent to the Samuel E. Coston Funeral Home, P.O. Box 5371, Pittsburgh, Pa. 15206.

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