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Cause of Death Mystery

Police officers from the 50^th Precinct set up a crime scene after a man was found dead in the woods of Van Cortlandt Park on. -Photo by David Greene

By David Greene 

Bronx Voice 

October 30, 2023 

BRONX - Detectives continue to investigate the death of a still-unidentified male who was found dead in Van Cortlandt Park—officials say the body was too decomposed to identify.

Police officials tell the Bronx Voice that officers from the 50^th Precinct were called to a wooded area along the path to the Allen Shandler Recreation area of Van Cortlandt Park in Woodlawn Heights at 12:40 p.m. on October 13.

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A police official said at the time, “Officers observed a 42-year-old male, unconscious and unresponsive.” The man was declared dead at the scene. The official added that the cause of death would be determined by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME.)

On October 24, Mark Desire, the assistant director of forensic biology at the OCME said of the death, “Undetermined cause and manner due to being in a decomposed state and lacking any evidence of injuries.”

On numerous occasions the NYPD was asked about a police radio transmission where an officer was heard saying that the deceased was found hanging from a tree, but the NYPD never responded to the question.

Desire discounted the radio transmission, telling the Bronx Voice, “This person was not found hanging (or anything resembling that.) The deceased was found laying in a wooded area.”