‘Unprecedented’ Eight dead bodies have washed up in the Jamaica Bay Area in the past year

Jamaica Bay is quietly earning a reputation as the Big Apple’s version of the Bermuda Triangle – with at least eight dead bodies discovered in and around the area in the past year, some under mysterious circumstances.

The investigation into five of the eight “floaters” that washed ashore or surfaced in Jamaica Bay or the nearby Atlantic Ocean side of The Rockaways has been closed, authorities said.

However, many questions still remain.

The “manner of death” of four of the bodies was deemed “undetermined” by the city’s medical examiner’s office, including Emmy-winning cinematographer and photographer Ross McDonnell, who authorities said loved to “go wild.” swimming” in the ocean and other waterways. .

The headless, armless torso of the 44-year-old Irishman washed up on a Breezy Point beach Nov. 17, two weeks after leaving his Brooklyn home.

Police initially said they believed McDonnell likely drowned during a nighttime dive, but the ME said the cause of death was “undetermined” based on the lack of evidence from the largely sparse skeletal remains found.

Three other deaths remain under investigation by authorities, including Marco Ramirez, 48, of Brooklyn, who was found dead along the shoreline of Cross Bay Boulevard on October 15 from the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in Broad Channel, and an unidentified female that washed up in Breezy Point on October 5.

City coroners have so far only been able to determine the cause and manner of death of one of the eight deaths – a headless man whose unidentified remains were found by a fisherman in April near 165th Avenue and Cross Bay Boulevard in Queens.

About 1,000 feet away, authorities found a rope hanging from the Joseph P. Addabbo Memorial Bridge.

That case was classified as a pending suicide, according to the medical examiner’s office.

Councilwoman Joann Ariola (R-Queens), who represents much of The Rockaways, said she raised her concerns with authorities this summer after the death toll reached five — but was told by police they didn’t believe the deaths were linked.

However, the latest dead ‘bodies mysteriously washing dishes’ make her even more ‘worried’.

“Growing up, you heard about bodies in the East River and the Hudson River, but not in Jamaica Bay,” said Ariola, who grew up in nearby Howard Beach.

“You might hear one or two here and there; a fisherman who fell in, or some other tragedy. But to have so many in less than a year? This is truly unprecedented.”

Rockaway Peninsula residents “are absolutely concerned,” said Dan Mundy Jr., president of the Broad Channel Civic Association and the Jamaica Bay Ecowatchers.

“I’ve lived on the water all my life, and I can’t remember so much happening in one year,” Mundy said.

“If eight bodies turned up in (another) neighborhood within a year, that would be a big problem. The police should treat this the same way and let us know what is going on here.”

Paul King, president of the Belle Harbor Property Owners Association, also said he has never seen such a surge of dead bodies in or near Jamaica Bay.

“To see eight bodies washed up since November last year, and they’re seemingly unrelated. . . it is strange and disturbing to say the least,” King said.

Jamaica Bay is a partially man-made estuary located primarily between the southern edge of Brooklyn and The Rockaways and other nearby parts of Queens. A small portion also affects Nassau County.

The NYPD declined to provide additional details about the deaths or address community concerns.

However, the emergence of “floaters” in New York waterways is “not unusual,” said Joe Giacalone, an adjunct professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and retired NYPD sergeant who previously headed the Bronx Cold Case Squad.

The condition of remains usually plays a major role in whether coroners and police officers can determine the cause of death, he said.

“These investigations all come from victimology, what police learn about what was going on in these people’s lives,” he said.

“I don’t think anyone should jump to conclusions. Some of these deaths may be accidental; some could be suicides, but I think a lot of them don’t turn out to be murders.”