Police investigate after skeletal remains were found in Queens, New York City on Monday, January 29, 2024.Photo:Gardiner Anderson for NY Daily News via Getty
Gardiner Anderson for NY Daily News via Getty
Skeletal remains were found in the basement of a house under construction in Queens, New York on Monday.
The remains were identified as human, reports theNew York Daily News,NBC News 4and theNew York Post.
Police responded to a 911 call of bones discovered at 119-22 Jamaica Avenue in Richmond Hill, Queens, on Monday afternoon around 1:55 p.m., the New York Police Department tells PEOPLE.
The investigation remains active and ongoing, confirms the NYPD.
Skeletal remains in the basement of an unoccupied building at 119-22 Jamaica Avenue in Queens, New York City on Monday, January 29, 2024.Gardiner Anderson for NY Daily News via Getty
The building received a Department of Buildings violation on Nov. 14, 2023. The violation reported the building’s failure to seal up the basement doors’ opening. The building was previously sealed off with concrete, which eventually was broken up. As a result, the building was no longer secure against unauthorized access and safeguarded from the public.
The 2023 violation followed complaints the month prior of rodents escaping the basement.
One complaint reported that the home’s top had “caved all the way in and is visible from the train that rides past,” reports the New York Daily News.
More recently, the building had been boarded off in anticipation of a rehab project.
Police investigate after skeletal remains were found in Queens, New York City on Monday, January 29, 2024.Gardiner Anderson for NY Daily News via Getty
One neighbor told theNew York Postthat the building had been unoccupied for more than 20 years. “The building had a fast food joint [on the ground floor] — a chicken place there, then they had a deli,” said the neighbor. “They had tenants on top.”
“The building caught fire, and they never fixed it,” he added. “So it was empty all these years.”
“They used to do a lot of drugs in this area,” added the neighbor. “It could be a squatter — who knows.”
Once the authorities arrived on Monday, Mike shared information about the incident from years ago. “I am not surprised because I smelled something and they didn’t respond to me,” he added.
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Representatives for the New York Office of Chief Medical Examiner and Department of Buildings did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for more information on Wednesday.
source: people.com
