When a guard at a Victoria’s Secret in Herald Square stopped two teenage girls on Thursday afternoon, he discovered some stolen items in their possession, but — tipped off by a strong odor — also something far more heinous, the police said.
One of their bags contained a dead fetus, the New York Police Department said.
The discovery prompted a torrent of questions, few of which had been answered by the evening. The department said it was not yet known when the fetus was born or whether it was alive or dead around 1 p.m., when the two girls entered the store, at 1328 Broadway. The period of gestation was also not known.
The medical examiner has scheduled an autopsy of the fetus for Friday, a spokeswoman said, and officials said more information about the case could be available afterward.
The police identified the two young women as Tiana Rodriguez, of Brooklyn, and Francis Estevez, of Queens, both 17. The two were charged with petty larceny and possession of stolen property, the police said.
The authorities were questioning one of the teenagers, the police said. The other was taken to Bellevue Hospital, but the Police Department did not say why.
A manager at the Victoria’s Secret store did not respond to a message left with a sales associate.
