‘Unprecedented’ 8 dead bodies wash up in Jamaica Bay area in past year; residents concerned
Jamaica Bay is quietly earning a reputation as the Big Apple’s version of the Bermuda Triangle — with at least eight dead bodies discovered in and around the area over the past year, some under mysterious circumstances.
Investigations into five of the eight “floaters” who washed ashore or turned up in either Jamaica Bay or the nearby Atlantic Ocean side of The Rockaways have been closed, authorities said.
However, many questions still remain.
The “manner of death” on four of the bodies was deemed “undetermined” by the city Medical Examiner’s office, including Emmy-award winning cinematographer and photographer Ross McDonnell, who authorities have said loved to “wild swim” in the ocean and other waterways.
The 44-year-old Irishman’s headless, armless torso washed up on a Breezy Point beach Nov. 17, two weeks after leaving his Brooklyn home.
Police initially said they believed McDonnell likely drowned taking a late-night dip, but the ME said it declared the cause of death “undetermined” based on the lack of evidence off the predominantly sparse skeletal remains found.
Three other deaths remain under investigation by authorities, including Marco Ramirez, 48, of Brooklyn, who was found dead Oct. 15 along the Cross Bay Boulevard shoreline of the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in Broad Channel, and an unidentified female who washed ashore in Breezy Point on Oct. 5.
City coroners have so far only been able to determine both the cause and manner of death for one of the eight deceased — a headless man whose unidentified remains were found in April by a fisherman near 165th Avenue and Cross Bay Boulevard in Queens.
About a 1,000 feet away, authorities found a rope hanging from the Joseph P. Addabbo Memorial Bridge.
That case was declared a hanging suicide, according to the Medical Examiner’s office.
Councilwoman Joann Ariola (R-Queens), who represents much of The Rockaways, said she expressed concerns to authorities over the summer after the body count reached five — only to be told by law enforcement they didn’t believe the deaths were connected.
However, the latest dead “bodies mysteriously washing up” have her even more “concerned.”
“Growing up, you’d hear about bodies in the East River, the Hudson River, but not in Jamaica Bay,” said Ariola, who was raised in nearby Howard Beach.
“Maybe you would hear about one or two here and there; a fisherman who fell in, or some other tragedy. But to have so many in less than a year? This is really unprecedented.”
Residents throughout the Rockaway Peninsula, “are definitely concerned,” said Dan Mundy Jr, president of the Broad Channel Civic Association and the Jamaica Bay Ecowatchers.
“I’ve been living on the water all my life, and I don’t ever remember having this much happen all in a year,” Mundy said.
“If there were eight bodies popping up in [another] neighborhood in a year, it would be a big deal. The police should be treating this the same way and should let us know what’s going on here.”
Paul King, president of the Belle Harbor Property Owners Association, also said he’s never seen such a wave of dead bodies in or near Jamaica Bay.
“To have eight bodies wash up since last November, and they have seemingly no connection to one another . . . it’s strange and disconcerting to say the least,” said King.
Jamaica Bay is a partially man-made estuary predominately located between southern edge of Brooklyn and The Rockaways and other nearby parts of Queens. A small part also touches Nassau County.
The NYPD declined to provide additional details about the deaths or address community concerns.
However, “floaters” surfacing in New York waterways “is not unusual,” said Joe Giacalone, an adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and retired NYPD sergeant who previously headed the Bronx Cold Case Squad.
The condition of the remains typically plays a big role in whether coroners and cops can determine a cause of death, he said.
“These investigations all come down the victimology, what the police find out about what was going on in these people’s lives,” he said.
“I don’t think anyone should jump to any conclusions. Some of these deaths could be accidental; some could be suicides, but I would think that many of them do not turn out to be homicides.”
