Police said the body of a deceased male individual was discovered inside Mosholu Parkway South in the Bedford Park section of the Bronx on Monday evening, Sept. 22.

 

A police spokesperson said the department received a call at 3.30 p.m. for a report of an unconscious and unresponsive 40-year-old male inside Mosholu Parkway on Mosholu Parkway South and Webster Avenue (closer to Decatur Avenue).

 

“EMS responded and pronounced him deceased on scene,” a police spokeswoman said. Police said there was no apparent physical trauma to the body.

 

They said the investigation is ongoing and the City’s medical examiner will determine the cause of death.

An area about 250 feet away from the roadway in the trees inside the park was seen cordoned off as residents and some children continued to walk along the pathway through the park on Monday afternoon, while others gathered and observed the scene, mostly in silence.

 

One man told Norwood News he had seen a person alone, unoccupied and sitting upright earlier on Monday morning inside the park in the same area where the body was located. Asked to describe the person, he said he seemed to be a teenage student and had a book bag.

 

Another resident said he often sees people who he assumes are undomiciled frequenting the park. Another female resident says she often sees fentanyl users of all ages inside the park. More to follow.

The body of a man is discovered inside Mosholu Parkway South in Bedford Park on Monday, Sept. 22, 2025. Video by Síle Moloney

To view a short video of the scene, click here. When the City’s medical examiner’s unit later arrived, the driver had to mount the sidewalk at Webster Avenue and drive up Mosholu Parkway to access the entrance to the park. The man’s body was later removed from the scene.

 

On Thursday, Sept. 25, Norwood News contacted the Office of the City’s Chief Medical Examiner to ask if the cause of death was known. On Friday, Sept. 26, we were advised that the cause and manner of death was pending further study.

During the 52^nd Precinct’s monthly community council meeting held Sept. 25 at the Success Academy Charter School, formerly the Church of St. Brendan’s School, on East 207th Street in Norwood, Deputy Inspector Chase Maneri, the precinct’s commanding officer, updated the community on the victim.

 

“That was a male that we’re looking at as a suicide,” Maneri said. “The person did leave a suicide note. It looks like the person intentionally overdosed on narcotics and we still have that person unidentified.”

The body of a man is removed from Mosholu Parkway at Mosholu Parkway South by Decatur Avenue in Bedford Park by the City’s medical examiner’s unit on Monday, Sept. 22. 2025. Video by Norwood News / Síle Moloney

He added that the victim had a POTS (Part of the Solution) ID that didn’t match anyone from POTS on Webster (Avenue). POTS provides meals, showers and other support services to the undomiciled population. “We still don’t know who they are, but there was some narcotics paraphernalia very close by,” Maneri said, adding that this made it seem (ostensibly) like the man had died by suicide by ingesting opioids.

 

For anyone who may be feeling depressed, help is available 24/7 via the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Text, chat or call 988.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crimestoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/ , or on X @NYPDTips.

 

All calls are strictly confidential.