Human remains have been found in Van Cortlandt Park according to the NYPD.

 

Police said they received a 911 call at around 11.30 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 12, for a report of human remains found near the Major Deegan Expressway and Van Cortlandt Park. A police spokesperson said, “When the officer got to the scene, he observed what appeared to be human remains in a wooded area.” Police said the investigation is ongoing.

 

A police vehicle with lights activated was seen blocking the entrance to a wooded area in Van Cortlandt Park off Jerome Avenue close to the public bathrooms and Mosholu Gold Course, and opposite Woodlawn Cemetery, just north of Norwood in the early hours of Sunday, Dec. 13. It’s an area of the park that is also close to Exit 13 off the Major Deegan Expressway.

 

Police had later confirmed to Norwood News that the site of the discovery of the remains was close to East 233rd Street and Exit 13. Further inside to the right is the Allen Shandler Recreation Area. Some flashing lights, possibly from vehicles belonging to the Office of the City’s Medical Examiner, though this could not be made out, were seen inside the wooded area from the Jerome Avenue entrance.

Citing a police source, the New York Daily News had reported on Friday night in relation to the incident, that “archeologists hunting for relics from the Revolutionary War discovered human remains” in the park on Friday. Norwood News asked the NYPD press office if it could corroborate this information.

 

They did not reply to our question. There was nobody in the vicinity of the discovery at the time we got there to ask if they knew anything about it.

 

Norwood News has also contacted the Office of the City’s Medical Examiner for more information on the cause of death, if yet known, on the deceased, and how long the remains were at the location, if known. We will share any updates we receive.

 

While the cause of death is to still to be determined, as reported, City officials had been warning New Yorkers of freezing temperatures in recent days and had encouraged anyone who saw an undomiciled person outside to call 311 to get them to shelter.

 

Meanwhile, in the early hours of Saturday, Dec. 13, FDNY responded to a burning car off the Major Deegan Expressway at Van Cortlandt Park South. More to follow.

 

As reported, a man was found dead in Van Cortlandt Park on the Major Deegan Expressway in early September with trauma to the head and body after a hit & run incident.

 

In September 2024, another man was found dead in Van Cortlandt Park and police were later seen investigating in the Allen Shandler Recreation Area.

It was sadly not the first time bodies were found in the area. As also reported previously, the body of another man was discovered inside Van Cortlandt Park also in the area near Mosholu Golf Course on Nov. 24, 2020. At the time, police said the man’s death did not appear to be suspicious.

 

The body of another man was also discovered inside Van Cortlandt Park at Mosholu Parkway North at West Gun Hill Road on Saturday, Dec. 17, 2022. Temperatures in the week leading up to the discovery had fluctuated between 34 degrees and 54 degrees during the day, and between 28 degrees and 55 degrees at night-time. Dec. 12, 2022 was the coldest night during that week at 28 degrees.

 

In November 2023, the body of another deceased man was also found in Van Cortlandt Park near Woodlawn Heights.

 

Anyone with information regarding these incidents 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 Crime Stoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/, or on X @NYPDTips.

All calls are strictly confidential.