photo Boyd Loving
Gruesome Halloween eve discovery – man found dead in parking lot
October 31,2014
Boyd A. Loving
Ridgewood NJ, A Linwood Avenue resident was found dead in the parking lot of a local shopping center on Halloween night, less than 45 minutes after being reported missing by his frantic wife.
After the man didn’t arrive home from work on time, his wife called the security office of his Mahwah based employer. When she was told that there was no trace of him in either his office or the company parking lot, she called Ridgewood PD.
Acting on location information supplied by the man’s cell phone carrier, Ridgewood police officers searched a several square block area beginning at around 9:30 PM and located the man’s 2002 Nissan Sentra parked in front of Kings Supermarket on North Maple Avenue.
Responding officers found the man unresponsive inside the vehicle. He was pronounced dead shortly after 10:00 PM by Dr. Robert Lahita, MD, Medical Director, Ridgewood Emergency Services.
Bergen County PD and the Bergen County Medical Examiner’s Office assisted with Friday night’s investigation. The man’s vehicle was impounded as evidence for further examination; it was removed by a flatbed tow truck. His body was taken to the Bergen County Medical Examiner’s Office for autopsy.
On Saturday, the Medical Examiner’s office issued a preliminary report – the victim died of natural causes. When she called Ridgewood PD, the victim’s wife advised them that her husband’s only known medical problem was high blood pressure.
As a side note, the family’s permanent home in Ridgewood was heavily damaged by fire in June of this year. They were living temporarily in a rental house on Linwood Avenue.
Photo credit: Boyd A. Loving
What a way to go.
A man died. It did not need “Halloween” or “gruesome” in the heading. It was an unfortunate incident and I feel sorry for his family.
I feel sorry too, but it was Gruesome and it was Halloween.
Disrespectfull. He has a family in town. You could have written that a local man died. The adjectives were gratuitous.
Very sad. You go out for a couple of groceries and never come home. It is really chilling how fragile our lives are. My heart goes out to the family.
Agree with the above. There is nothing gruesome about this and Halloween had nothing to do with this. This shouldn’t even be reported and the pictures are terrible. My condolences to the family.
#4 I agree. Are we the N.Y Post now with posts?
A heartbreaking story about someone from our town. The writer acknowledges a prior unfortunate event yet shows incredibly poor judgment with a tasteless and disrespectful headline. Just take down the article.
I agree the headline was disrespectful. Nobody wants the passing of a loved one to be described as a bi-line to Halloween. But I am not surprised to see such crass treatment here on this blog. Empathy and compassion are not Libertarian traits.
Anything that happens in public that happens out of the ordinary qualifies as news.
The person died in a public place, so its news.
Its not disrespectful at all to post it here.
It is the way that it was posted that is disrespectful.
it was the death of a friend and neighbor. The casual medium should not be the message. We are better than that.
How would the post writer craft the headline for his/her own parent, brother or child – even if the person passed in a public place?
#11 – amen to that.
You people are too ‘touchy feely’. GET OVER IT.
North Jersey Media Group reported the incident as well. You must be a real estate agent in town. They are known for not wanting any bad news published. Get a life.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/police-ridgewood-man-found-in-car-died-of-natural-causes-1.1124559
Where to draw the line between good and bad taste has become increasingly interesting, partly because of how strongly people disagree. In the past, the “line” was probably more readily agreed upon by people in general. This could be the topic of an essay or panel discussion.
Who was this individual? Hasn’t enough time passed for the process of discreet notification of next-of-kin to have run its course?
News is news. It is not all pretty. YOU read it, didn’t you.