Manchester, NJ – The remains of a human body were found in the New Jersey Pine Barrens this week in an area that has a dark past for being rumored to be a mafia burial ground. While the most current news has not been linked in any way to the area’s infamous past, police are now investigating.
New Jersey State Police are currently investigating human remains that were found in a wooded area close to Route 70 in Manchester.
A local hunter came across the remains around 7 p.m. on Friday, leading to a prompt response from law enforcement. The area along Route 70 was soon filled with several police vehicles as the investigation commenced.
As of now, the identity of the remains has not been disclosed. Authorities are continuing their investigation and have not provided additional details on the discovery.
According to a 1973 New York Times article, for decades North Jersey and New York mobsters favored Ocean County and the New Jersey Pine Barrens for dumping the bodies of their victims.
“Not only gangsters, however, but killers of all breeds from the New York and Philadelphia metropolitan areas have disposed of their bodies in Ocean County, apparently lured by the miles of uninhabited woodland,” the Times reported. “Of the almost 50 murder cases Ocean County has reported since 1966, about half involve the pinelands and victim, killer or both from out of town. Yet, only 10 are listed as unsolved and of those, only seven involve the pinelands. Three of the seven were underworld killings.”
While no links to mafia-related activity have been mentioned in this case, the idea of finding a body dumped in the area brings back memories of a dark past.