Jennifer Millman

2nd Body Found in Central Park Water in 24 Hours Showed ‘Wildlife Issues'

The body found Wednesday was a man wearing pants and shoes but no shirt

Another body has been found in the water at Central Park, the second such grisly discovery within 24 hours, authorities said.

A park worker found the body of a man in his 30s wearing pants and shoes, but no shirt, floating in Swan Lake near Fifth Avenue and 59th Street Wednesday morning, police said. 

It appears the man was in the water for about a week or two at most, and authorities have made a tentative identification on the body from an ID in his pocket, police said. 

There were some "wildlife issues" that apparently kept him submerged in the water until he was found, NYPD Chief of Detectives Bob Boyce said Wednesday, who also referred to "some eye damage from some turtles or other wildlife."

The investigation shut down the southeast side of the park as police investigated. Witness Diego Pipoli watched it unfold Wednedsay morning.

"I saw just one police officer looking in the water and you could barely see but there was a head sticking out from the water," he said.

"It's disturbing, of course," he added. 

There was very little decomposition on the body compared to the one discovered Tuesday, about 30 blocks north in the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir.

"This body of water is very still compared to the reservoir, where there are currents," Boyce said. 

The body of the naked man found Tuesday may have been in the reservoir for over a month, he said. 

Police say there was no trauma to either body and don't believe criminality was involved in either case. A medical examiner will conduct autopsies to determine how they died.

Boyce said the last time a body was found in the waters in Central Park was at least two years ago, in 2015. 

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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