January 6, 2019
The rain finally stopped and in the light of a brand new day a mystery unfolds in Inwood Park…
Clue #1: Two men are observed standing silently in the deli on Broadway near C Town, each staring at or typing into a phone. One is wearing outerwear with a “34 Squad” logo. Detectives? Homicide Detectives?
Clue #2: One of two large planters in front of 639 W 207 St appears to be freshly broken. Dirt stains near the other, undamaged planter. Had it fallen (or been pushed) over and placed upright again? What happened here? Is it related to Clue #1?
Broken planter near entrance to 639 W 207 St.
Clue #3: A parked police car is spotted down by Field 4 near the wall and by the stairs leading up to the intersection of Indian Road and Seaman Avenue.
View from Isham Street entrance, with detail inset.
Clue #4: A NYC Parks employee near the Christmas tree collection spot behind Field 1, nods toward the police car and states, “they found something suspicious. They don’t know if it’s an animal or not.”
“Drop your tree here,” advises a sign in the Park.
Clue#5: A man walking a dog reports there was a black trash bag there earlier. It’s gone now. Yellow police tape still marks the spot.
The wall that borders Seaman Avenue.
Clue #6: Officer in the NYPD vehicle idling at the crime scene states that a “suspicious package” was found here earlier today. Asked “like a bomb, suspicious?” he replies “no, no, no.” “like something dead?” “Yeah.” “like a dead person?” “I don’t know. Just a suspicious package.” He states that he and his partner “just got here a few minutes ago,” glances at his wristwatch, and has no further comment for the Gazette.
Hypothesis: Something suspicious definitely happened in the Park last night or Sunday morning that warranted police setting up a taped off crime scene and assigning a car to guard it. Based on the presence of the police, the crime scene tape, and (possibly) 2 Detectives nearby, it was potentially criminal in nature. Based on the descriptor “suspicious” used separately by both a police officer and a Parks employee to describe the package, confirmation by the police officer that it contained something dead, and the Parks employee’s report that “they don’t know if it’s an animal or not,” it might have been human remains and they might have been contained in a black trash bag the dog walker reports was there earlier (which was possibly removed by NYPD?). Alternatively, it may have contained bones that were not immediately identifiable as being either animal or human. Speculating here.
Legend: A- the Deli; B- Broken planter; C- Crime scene.
The Gazette will monitor this mystery for further developments.