Body found in the south mountain reservation

Continuing the thread from old MOL --

Village green has updated the article earlier today with more details, including a statement from the man who found the body.. http://villagegreennj.com/police-and-fire/nj-com-body-woman-found-south-mountain-reservation/

I hope the authorities can quickly ID the person and solve the crime.  That area is quite easily accessible by car.  If the body had been found in a remote area, I'd be more concerned about my personal safety while hiking.  

Sigh, why would this guy make such a public statement. I mean, was it really necessary to share details to the world which would have otherwise been known to only a few? At least this early. 

ace789nj said:

Sigh, why would this guy make such a public statement. I mean, was it really necessary to share details to the world which would have otherwise been known to only a few? At least this early. 

 No doubt he was a bit shaken up (and perhaps received no instructions to the contrary)

Seems she's been ID'd. 

https://rlsmedia.com/node/5202

@valley_girl - is this the person you noticed in the online Missing list?

This is an interesting twist on it:

"A final ruling on the cause and manner of death is pending toxicology results but the Medical Examiner has determined it does not appear to be a homicide.  "

scottgreenstone said:

This is an interesting twist on it:

"A final ruling on the cause and manner of death is pending toxicology results but the Medical Examiner has determined it does not appear to be a homicide.  "

 Why interesting? 

If it wasn't homicide, how did she end up where she ended up? Not passing any judgements, just curious. 

I would guess that's why the toxicology results are important. It's possible she was under the influence in some way, and just wandered up into the reservation. she could have fallen into the hollow under the tree. Given the weather in February, it would not have taken her long to succumb. 

obviously, we won't know for sure until there is an official report.

Tripped and fell and hit her head on a rock?  Disoriented and died of hypothermia?

scottgreenstone said:

This is an interesting twist on it:

"A final ruling on the cause and manner of death is pending toxicology results but the Medical Examiner has determined it does not appear to be a homicide.  "

Not interesting, and not a twist. Assumptions shouldn't be made, this includes calling something a homicide when an investigation hasn't concluded such. 

Geeze, I just thought it was interesting given the initial reports of the investigation, wasn't passing any judgmenet as I stated above.

I get what you're saying. I personally don't think the initial reports gave enough detail to draw any conclusions. But I understand where you're coming from.

I'm not jumping on you SG, it's just that nothing in the initial reports indicated homicide. Sometimes, many times, the public gets ahead of themselves, putting things together before there are actually enough facts to put together. I feel sorry for her family and I hope to God there wasn't someone who knew where she was but elected not to tell for fear of getting in trouble.  

finnegan said:

Seems she's been ID'd. 

https://rlsmedia.com/node/5202

@valley_girl - is this the person you noticed in the online Missing list?

Yes :-( 

mrincredible said:

I would guess that's why the toxicology results are important. It's possible she was under the influence in some way, and just wandered up into the reservation. she could have fallen into the hollow under the tree. Given the weather in February, it would not have taken her long to succumb.  obviously, we won't know for sure until there is an official report.

Earlier reports said the body was covered with leaves, twigs and rocks.

 She was found in the large hole created by the root ball of a fallen tree. The ground was covered with around a foot of snow in February when she went missing   If she was covered with rocks leaves and twigs, then someone had to have covered her with them.     If this was not homicide, then she would have had to have somehow gotten herself to the reservation without a car ( no car was abandoned) walked down bear lane, off the street and trail and somehow fallen into the hole and covered herself with leaves, rocks and twigs.    

sarahzm said:

mrincredible said:

I would guess that's why the toxicology results are important. It's possible she was under the influence in some way, and just wandered up into the reservation. she could have fallen into the hollow under the tree. Given the weather in February, it would not have taken her long to succumb.  obviously, we won't know for sure until there is an official report.

Earlier reports said the body was covered with leaves, twigs and rocks.

 She was found in the large hole created by the root ball of a fallen tree. The ground was covered with around a foot of snow in February when she went missing   If she was covered with rocks leaves and twigs, then someone had to have covered her with them.     If this was not homicide, then she would have had to have somehow gotten herself to the reservation without a car ( no car was abandoned) walked down bear lane, off the street and trail and somehow fallen into the hole and covered herself with leaves, rocks and twigs.    

 

So let's take a piece of this at a time.

Do we know how deep the hollow was she was discovered in?

I also expected it to turn out to be homicide, particularly since she is from Newark and no car was found. Quite mysterious how she got there and how she died. Poor young woman, and tragic for her family.

Here's the missing persons site:

https://www20.state.nj.us/NJSP_Amber/DispatchAction.do;jsessionid=a25d9814a605003ab4901f391c1b:pnX8?parameter=mp_detail&mp_id=66946&type=mp

And an item from March:

https://rlsmedia.com/article/police-ask-publics-help-finding-missing-newark-woman-24

It says she was last seen wearing a black jacket, grey sweatpants and black boots. 

https://www.facebook.com/RLSMetroBreakingNews/posts/374687412734232

From one of the reader posts after, "A short search turned up she had an altercation at strip club where the owner has recently been under the watchful eye of Law Enforcement. Something doesn't pass the smell test-I'll stop there." And that's from before she was found.

Unless she goes on long walks in February, alone, in the woods, far from home without a car in the lot I think it's reasonable to speculate on the involvement of others in one manner or another.

Was a pretty cold month, as Februarys go. 

Sad and cruel, however it happened.

Jackson_Fusion, that's inconceivable! ;-)

She was also supposedly far from the trails and we had quite a bit of snow in february.  I can't imagine most people breaking a path through the snow in the rez in the bitter cold.  Tragedy all around.  Her loved ones are in my thoughts

Bump

All comments about this story on the link provided earlier in this thread shared the allegation (stated as clear fact) that the body was found naked. I wish the police would explain that they can't make a determination about homicide YET, rather than saying that it's not considered a homicide. Naked, last seen five miles away in the dead of winter, no car abandoned nearby: someone either dumped this young woman or left her there to die. She certainly didn't get there on her own. Getting justice for her is far more important than doing protective PR for the two towns by not using the word "homicide" even speculatively. I understand that they have to establish a cause of death, and that involves a long toxicology process. But these seem to me like irrefutably suspicious circumstances.

I don't recall seeing any authoritative reference to the state of the victim's clothing, but could have overlooked it.  Regardless, what's with the odd  "protective PR" quip?  Seriously??

Peggy

I recall seeing an article where they stated no obvious indication on the body of homicide. Investigations, particularly ones involving toxicology, take time, and often don't publish detailed updates every 2 minutes- if it is a homicide there is a killer out there that needs to find justice. Stupid criminals do stupid things when they are lacking information.

There was mentioned in one of the local sites (village green? can't remember) that the police had been instructed to keep their eyes open in an area in particular that was specific enough that I was shocked it was published, since the body had only shortly prior been found. They may have clammed up after that.

As far as trying to protect an image- please. We've had, I'm sad to say, much more sensational crimes over the years- crimes that involved people living in homes here that got tons of ink. 

If this was, as you speculate, a dumping of a body in an attempt to conceal, the fact is the person doing the dumping did so in South Mountain precisely because it ISN'T the sort of place that would attract undue law enforcement attention. 

Could be drug over dose in someone's house or car and they didn't want to be implicated so they dump the body.  

crazy_quilter said:

Could be drug over dose in someone's house or car and they didn't want to be implicated so they dump the body.  

 I thought of that as a possibility. But I guess we will find out something more soon. Her family must be devastated.