A man was found dead inside a camper parked at the Southaven County Park campground in Shirley on Sunday morning, and police say the death does not appear to be criminal in nature. Suffolk County Police officers arrived at the scene at 7:40 a.m. after the man was reported non-responsive, according to a department spokesperson.
The discovery, first reported by Newsday, sent police, park rangers, fire department personnel and an ambulance rushing to the campground. Nearby campers described the man as friendly and said emergency crews flooded the campsite shortly after 7:40 a.m., according to Patch. The cause of the man's death remains unknown, and his identity has not been released.
Why Homicide Detectives Are Involved
Even though police have said the death is not believed to be criminal, Suffolk County Police Department protocol assigns the SCPD Homicide Squad to investigate all unattended deaths across the county, including accidents, sudden illnesses, and unexplained fatalities at public parks. Suffolk County procedures require homicide detectives to conduct an initial investigation to preserve evidence at the scene until a medical examiner can confirm the cause of death, per the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office.
From there, the case moves to the Suffolk County Office of the Medical Examiner in Hauppauge, which handles postmortem examinations and toxicology screenings for unattended fatalities at county parks in order to establish an official cause and manner of death, according to information published by ZipRecruiter. The medical examiner's office works directly with local law enforcement to process scene evidence and internal tissue analysis before releasing findings.
The circumstances of Sunday's death remain unclear, and it could take time before toxicology results are finalized. Forensic pathology standards for deaths inside enclosed recreational vehicles typically focus on distinguishing natural health events from environmental hazards such as carbon monoxide accumulation or extreme heat, according to guidance from the National Association of Medical Examiners.
A Busy Regional Campground Along the Carmans River
Southaven County Park spans more than 1,300 acres along the Carmans River and offers over 100 camping sites for tents and travel trailers, including 51 with electrical hookups, making it one of Suffolk County's primary destinations for overnight camping, according to the Pine Barrens Tribune. The park sits in the Town of Brookhaven along Victory Avenue, just south of Sunrise Highway, straddling the hamlets of Shirley and Yaphank, per A Mike Who Likes to Hike.
County park rules require valid trailer registrations, mandatory permits from the Department of Parks, Recreation and Conservation, and limit stays to seven to 14 days per visit, according to information from DSS Long Island. Those regulations are meant to balance public access with long-term oversight of who is camped on county land at any given time.
This is not the first time emergency crews have had to respond to a camper-related incident at the campground. In April 2024, an RV caught fire at Southaven County Park on a Friday night, prompting a multi-agency response, according to News 12 Long Island.
A Historic Park With Deep Roots
Opened in the 1960s as one of the first public parks in Suffolk County, Southaven encompasses the historic Homan-Gerard House and Mills, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988, along with an 8.5-acre track for the Long Island Live Steamers scale railroad, according to A Mike Who Likes to Hike. The Carmans River, which winds through the park, is designated a New York State Wild, Scenic and Recreational River and draws visitors for rowboat rentals, fishing and nature trails as it flows south toward the Great South Bay.
For now, the identity of the man found dead and the specific cause remain open questions awaiting the medical examiner's findings. Police have not released additional details, and Newsday has not reported further updates since Sunday's discovery.
