Body of Petaluma homeless woman found dead at donation box

A homeless woman, apparently trying to retrieve items from a clothing donation box in north Petaluma on Wednesday, got stuck halfway into the container and died, Petaluma police said.

Authorities identified her as Kaily Land, 30, and said she has no known address but frequently was seen in the city and around the area of the donation box.

Police were called about 6:40 a.m. to where the large green container was sitting outside the Steel Bear Deli & Country Store on Old Redwood Highway, between McDowell Boulevard and Highway 101. Officers found half of Land’s body, clad in jeans and boots, dangling outside the container while her torso still was inside. A flashlight, still turned on, was discovered at the bottom, suggesting she had been searching for items inside the box.

“It looks like at some point, the lady tried to climb in there,” Petaluma police Sgt. Paul Gilman said. “She got pinched.”

After pulling her out, officers found a mark on her neck, showing how she likely died, Petaluma police Lt. Tim Lyons said.

“The lid of the box was pushed up against her neck, which may have caused her to suffocate. But we won’t know the exact cause of death until the autopsy,” Lyons said. “It definitely appeared her body got trapped inside and cut her in the neck and cut off her air supply.”

The opening in which Land became stuck is for people to put things into but is not designed in a way that allows items to be removed, Gilman said.

Steel Bear Deli owner Andy Dusanjh said the woman was a frequent customer of the store, and his employees knew her face, but not her name.

“I personally have seen her a bunch of times, and she picked through our garbage for cans and stuff like that,” Dusanjh said.

The security camera outside his store caught an image of Land walking past at 4:08 a.m. Wednesday, but he said the donation box was outside the view of his camera.

Deli employee Luis Cendejas said a customer told him early in the morning someone was at the donation box and appeared to be sorting through items. Minutes later, he said a Red Bull deliveryman came into the deli and said there was someone at the box who wasn’t moving.

The deliveryman called 911, Cendejas said, while he went outside to look.

“I was scared. She was not moving,” Cendejas said, after seeing Land’s body partially hanging outside the container.

Dusanjh said the collection box has been on his property for 10 or 11 years. He said the nonprofit that brought it was called Campus California at the time. The people with the nonprofit told him the clothes collected would be donated to Africa, and so he agreed to accept the container with no financial agreement.

He said Wednesday he’s had no contact with the nonprofit since receiving the container, and never has seen anyone from the organization collecting the donated clothing.

“They must come at odd hours to collect the clothes, because I’ve never seen them,” he said.

Dusanjh said the box was frequently full, though, so people left clothing and shoes on the street next to it, and people often would come by to rummage for clothing they could take.