In the crowded chaos of the morning rush hour, a woman died by jumping onto the tracks at the College subway station, leaving her purse behind on the platform.

As confusion reigned in the underground, another woman walked over, took it — and left.

The Wednesday morning incident, which police are treating as a theft and suicide, was met with a roiling chorus of shock and disgust.

Meanwhile, investigators were unable to figure out the deceased woman’s name: any identification was ostensibly in her stolen purse.

Police later released security camera stills and asked for the public’s help to identify a woman suspected in the alleged theft.

The woman is described as white, about 40, five-foot-four, with a medium build and brown hair. She wore a blue floral dress with a white bracelet on her left wrist.

“What a despicable act,” wrote Det. Sgt. Rudy Pasini on Twitter, one of a long string of dismayed reactions on social media.

The event occurred just after 8 a.m., said TTC spokesman Brad Ross, forcing the closure of the Yonge subway line between Bloor and Union stations and causing lengthy delays for commuters during the morning rush hour.

Const. Victor Kwong called the alleged theft “heinous,” adding that police originally hoped the woman meant to return the purse.

“We’ll keep an open mind for that, but as we stand right now, considering how much time has gone on, considering that it has not been turned in to any authority . . . this is a criminal investigation,” said Kwong.

“It’s one that troubles society.”

Crystal Santaw has seen this type of thing before. Her purse was stolen last September while she rushed to help a stabbing victim.

The 27-year-old restaurant server said she walked out of a bar on Queen St. W. and saw a man being beaten by several others. When she approached, the assailants left, and she noticed the man had been knifed multiple times in the arm and torso.

Santaw said she put down her purse so she could take off her scarf and jacket, and use them to staunch the man’s bleeding. While tending to his wounds and waiting for an ambulance, Santaw had her purse nabbed.

“I was in shock,” she recalled. “I just could not believe that somebody would steal my purse while I was literally trying to save someone’s life.”

Neither could David Balaban. The financial district lawyer said he knows Santaw as a “friend of a friend” and wanted to set up a fundraising campaign to help her make up for what she lost — about $300 in tips and a brand new iPhone.

He said Santaw’s episode, like Wednesday’s at College station, left a bad taste in his mouth.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

“It’s disgusting,” said Balaban. “I think it makes everybody lose faith.”

Santaw agreed that such “horrible” acts can taint one’s view of common decency, but shrugged off the notion that her experience had clouded her perspective on others.

“Toronto tends to be very much a community in a lot of ways. People tend to look out for each other, so when something like that happens, it tends to really blow your mind,” she said. “By no means is that indicative of the rest of the people that live in this great city.”