Authorities confirmed that a body was recovered from the water at a Hudson County park in Bayonne on Tuesday, Oct. 27, with law enforcement gathered at the scene for much of the afternoon. Bayonne police confirmed their involvement in the case but referred further questions to the Hudson County Sheriff's Office, which is handling the investigation.
The recovery was first reported by Daily Voice, which noted that aerial photos captured by Rich Met showed law enforcement gathered near the water along Bayview Drive at Bayonne Park. A Facebook user claimed the remains were in skeleton form and appeared to have been in the water for a while, but that claim had not been independently verified as of the Daily Voice report.
What Authorities Have Confirmed So Far
Beyond confirming that a body was found in the water and that the Hudson County Sheriff's Office is leading the probe, officials had not released additional details about the person's identity or how the body came to be in the water. Bayonne police directed inquiries to the sheriff's office, underscoring that county authorities, rather than the local department, are steering the investigation going forward.
Bayonne Park sits along the city's western edge, a stretch of shoreline that has seen similar grim discoveries before. In March 2024, a woman's body was recovered from Newark Bay near Stephen R. Gregg Park in Bayonne, according to Hudson County View. In that case, the Hudson County Sheriff's Office notified the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office of the discovery at approximately 1:30 p.m., and the woman, who had not yet been positively identified at the time, was pronounced dead at the scene with no visible signs of trauma observed.
A Similar Case From 2024
That 2024 recovery took place near Stephen R. Gregg Hudson County Park, which Patch described as located on Bayonne's western waterfront, as reported by Patch. NJ.com reported that the body was pulled from Newark Bay on a Tuesday afternoon after being located close to 48th Street, with the sheriff's office alerting county prosecutors around the same 1:30 p.m. window.```
Roughly two weeks later, the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office said the body recovered that March was that of an 18-year-old woman and that foul play was not suspected at the time, according to Hudson TV. The outlet reported that ABS-CBN News identified her as Hayley Erin “Lee” Avestruz Alvarado, a Montclair State University freshman who had gone missing in December, and noted she had been identified by family members. Hudson County View separately reported that the woman was an 18-year-old Jersey City resident who had been reported missing in December 2023, and that foul play was not suspected at that time.
It remains unclear whether Tuesday's recovery at Bayonne Park is connected in any way to that earlier case. No official cause or identity has been released for the body found this week, and the investigation by the Hudson County Sheriff's Office is ongoing.
