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