A man's body was discovered along a roadside in Burlington Township Monday night, at the intersection of Sunset Road and Hospital Drive, according to police. Officials said the discovery was made at about 8 p.m., and first responders pronounced the man dead at the scene. As of Tuesday morning, officials had not released the man's identity or provided any additional information about him.
The location sits directly next to Virtua Willingboro Hospital, with Hospital Drive serving as a primary access point into the medical complex, according to Patch. As NBC10 Philadelphia first reported, police had not said how the man may have died and had not confirmed whether he was the victim of a hit-and-run crash as the investigation continued into Tuesday morning.
A Neighbor's Anxious Wait for Answers
Nhaja Mardy, a member of a church near the scene, told the station she saw detectives, police tape and patrol cars swarming the intersection Monday night. She said she wanted to check whether the victim was someone from her congregation, describing the stretch of Sunset Road and Hospital Drive as a busy roadway where drivers often speed through the area.
The investigation remained ongoing Tuesday morning, and the outlet said it was working to learn more about the man's identity and the circumstances of his death.
A Stretch of Road With a Troubled History
This is not the first fatal incident at this exact intersection. In September 2019, a 64-year-old man was struck and killed by an SUV while crossing Sunset Road, and he was transported to Virtua Willingboro Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to a report cited by South Jersey Online. A few years earlier, in September 2017, Burlington Township deployed its Traffic Safety Unit and Investigation Bureau to investigate a severe pedestrian collision on Sunset Road, which resulted in criminal charges against a driver who was operating with a suspended license, per Burlington Township's own records.
The area has seen other overnight roadside deaths as well. In March 2021, Burlington Township Police investigated a pedestrian found lying in the roadway along nearby Campus Drive, between Sunset Road and Autumn Lane, following a hit-and-run collision, with officers responding to that scene around 2:13 a.m., according to FOX 29 Philadelphia.
Investigators Continue Their Work
An autopsy was being performed in this case as investigators worked to determine the man's cause and manner of death.
Part of a Broader County Traffic Safety Push
The death comes as Burlington County grapples with a heavy toll from traffic crashes overall. New Jersey Department of Transportation data compiled by county officials shows that between 2021 and 2025, Burlington County recorded 54,414 total traffic collisions resulting in 203 fatalities, including 45 pedestrian or bicyclist deaths, per Burlington County, NJ figures used in local traffic planning. The county is now using federal Safe Streets for All grant funding to build a countywide road safety action plan aimed at eliminating traffic fatalities and serious injuries, coordinating with municipal police departments and regional transit agencies.
Statewide, the trend has been improving. Preliminary data released by the New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety in January showed pedestrian fatalities fell nearly 24 percent in 2025 to 175 deaths, down from 230 the year before, according to the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, with overall traffic fatalities dropping 15 percent over the same period. State officials have also launched the “Target Zero” initiative, aiming to eliminate traffic-related fatalities on state roadways entirely by 2040 through road redesigns, speed enforcement and improved post-crash medical response, according to NJ Spotlight News, a goal that followed a multi-decade high in state traffic deaths in 2024.
For now, the man's identity, cause of death and whether a vehicle was involved all remain unanswered as Burlington Township detectives continue investigating.
