Latest news with #NJSP
The Independent
4 days ago
- Science
- The Independent
Remains found washed up on Jersey shore identified as missing 19th-century boat captain
A decades-old cold case at the Jersey Shore has been cracked after experts confirmed that skeletal remains found on three beaches belong to a 19th-century ship captain. Undergraduate student researchers at Ramapo College of New Jersey used advanced DNA technology to determine that bones from a leg, arm and fragments of a cranium all belonged to Captain Henry Goodsell - who died at sea 181 years ago at age 29. The bones were found separately on Ocean City, Margate and Longport beaches between 1995 and 2013. New Jersey State Police turned them over to researchers at the college's Investigative Genetic Genealogy Center last year. "We kind of kept going back and forth between, are they historic? Are they not historic?' NJSP Forensic Anthropologist Dr. Anna Delaney told NBC New York. "This is absolutely amazing because after all of this time, Henry has his name." While examining New Jersey shipwreck records, students uncovered newspaper articles from December 20 and 24, 1844. They learned that the Oriental, captained Goodsell, was carrying five crew members and 60 tons of marble to Philadelphia for Girard College when it sank near Brigantine Shoal in 1844, killing everyone on board. Researchers traced Goodsell's genetic relatives back to the 1600s and built family trees, revealing ancestral ties to Connecticut. They eventually located Goodsell's great-great-granddaughter in Maryland, whose DNA sample confirmed the captain's identity. Goodsell's family said they do not want his remains, so they will stay at a state repository indefinitely. 'Identifying human remains is one of the most solemn and challenging responsibilities law enforcement is charged with,' said Chief of County Detectives Patrick Snyder at the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office in a news release. 'Law enforcement works hard knowing that behind every case is a promise: that no one will be forgotten, and that we will pursue the truth until families have the answers they deserve,' he added.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Skull found on New Jersey beach linked to 19th century shipwreck
In 1995, a mystery skull washed onto a beach in Longport, New Jersey. Four years later, additional bone fragments were discovered less than two miles away on a shore in the neighboring southern New Jersey town of Margate. It would take another 14 years for even more skeletal remains to arrive on a beach another five miles away in Ocean City. But over those three decades, forensic experts and law enforcement couldn't put a name to the individual known only as 'Scattered Man John Doe.' After 30 years, the mystery has finally been solved thanks to a combination of genetic testing, historical research, and archival analysis. 'Scattered Man John Doe' wasn't a victim of foul play—he wasn't even a comparatively recent death. Instead, the bones belong to Henry Goodsell, a 29-year-old merchant ship captain who perished along with his crew during a storm in the winter of 1844. The identification comes two years after state law enforcement reached out to the Ramapo College of New Jersey's Investigative Genetic Genealogy Center. After sending bone samples to Intermountain Forensics, a nonprofit dedicated to identifying missing person remains, Ramapo undergraduates began crossreferencing archival files in the hopes of finding a lead. Genetic analysis results traced ancestry as far back as the 1600s, to Connecticut's Litchfield and Fairfield counties. From there, they also started investigating newspaper reports of any shipwrecks off the coast of New Jersey. Eventually, the students flagged two articles dated from December 20 and 24, 1844. 'The schooner Oriental… was lost on the evening of the 4th on Brigantine shoals and all hands with her,' read the Friday edition of the York Democratic Press. According to the paper's account, the ship left Bridgeport, Connecticut for Philadelphia with around 60 tons of marble intended for Girard College. While cautioning that it was 'possible that the crew had taken off, and that the vessel had been abandoned. Four days later, however, newspapers across the northeast confirmed the worst case outcome. 'The Bridgeport Standard (Conn.) has further accounts from this ill-fated vessel, which render it certain that all on board must have perished,' reported the Boston Daily Bee on December 24. The consensus at the time was that the Oriental likely sprung a leak before sinking less than a mile from the shoreline, but an intense storm prevented any rescue attempts. All five crew members including Capt. Goodsell ultimately drowned, but only one sailor 'was thrown on the shore' five miles away. Authorities later identified him as John Keith before seeing that he was 'decently buried,' according to the Daily Bee. Capt. Goodsell left behind a wife and three children. After digging deeper into his family tree, the students suggested he warranted a closer look from the New Jersey State Police (NJSP). On March 7, 2025, authorities collected a DNA reference sample from one of Goodsell's great-great grandchildren. One month later, the NJSP confirmed 'Scattered Man John Doe' to be the late Capt. Goodsell. 'The ability to bring answers to families—even generations later—shows how far science and dedication can take us,' NJSP superintendent Col. Patrick Callahan said in a university announcement on May 21. While Goodsell marks the school's Investigative Genetic Genealogy Center's 92nd consultancy project, Ramapo College reports it is one of the oldest cold case files ever solved using this advanced type of investigative genealogy.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Yahoo
Grand jury declines to indict state trooper over 2024 Warren County fatal crash
A New Jersey State Police officer will not be criminally charged in relation to a Aug. 13, 2024 fatal crash in Warren County during a highway pursuit of another vehicle, announced the Attorney General's Office. A state grand jury voted to not file criminal charges against NJSP trooper Christopher Bird on May 20, 2025. Bird was in pursuit of Sean B. Mamakas, 33, of Kempton, Pennsylvania, when the SUV driven by Mamakas struck a motorcycle and killed Michael J. Ceddia, Jr., 76, of Hackettstown who was a Vietnam War veteran. At around 10:19 a.m. that August morning, Bird started following a Ford Explorer SUV on Route 80 eastbound in Warren County, officials said. The officer activated his lights with the intention of pulling over Mamakas. The SUV allegedly fled eastbound, taking Exit 12, exiting onto County Road 521 south in Hope Township. Mamakas struck the motorcycle in the area of Dogwood Drive and County Route 521 in Hope Township when Ceddia was ejected from his bike and died at the scene. Mamakas went off the road and stopped in a wooded area, and was treated for minor injuries at Hackettstown Medical Center. A Warren County grand jury indicted Mamakas on charges of aggravated manslaughter, death by auto, eluding, aggravated assault, and possession of a controlled dangerous substance (CDS). The charges are still pending. The investigation on Bird included video footage from a motor vehicle recorder and body-worn camera, radio transmissions, witness statements, and autopsy results from the medical examiner, said the OAG. This article originally appeared on Grand jury declines to indict trooper in fatal Warren County NJ crash
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump prosecutor to investigate blue state governor, AG over reported order to ignore ICE warrants
President Donald Trump's longtime legal counsel and appointee as U.S. attorney for New Jersey announced Thursday she will launch a probe into Gov. Phil Murphy and Attorney General Matt Platkin over reports that state police were asked to ignore new immigration warrants. Alina Habba said on "Hannity" she decided to launch the probe following a Shore News Network report that an internal memo from New Jersey State Police (NJSP) Col. Patrick Callahan revealed Murphy and Platkin ordered that officers not pursue thousands of immigration warrants recently added to the National Crime Information Center. The move was reportedly meant to be in line with former Attorney General Gurbir Grewal's 2018 "Immigration Trust Directive," which limited the types of voluntary assistance state and local police could offer the feds. "We know that the governor has on his website, currently, dos and don'ts for his local state of law enforcement. Those dos and don'ts instruct them not to cooperate with illegal immigrants who have administrative warrants that have been issued by the court after due process," Habba said. Nj Gov Says He'll 'Fight To The Death' Against Trump Actions He Deems 'Contrary To Values' "It is instructing them to go against our federal rules, our executive orders." Read On The Fox News App She said her new probe into Murphy and Platkin should be a warning to all other state leaders that if they hinder the FBI, DEA or other federal law enforcement agencies, they will be held accountable. "[W]e are to take all criminal, violent criminals and criminals out of this country and to completely enforce federal law. And anybody who does get in the way of what we are doing - which is not political, it is simply against crime - will be charged in the state of New Jersey for obstruction, for concealment, and I will come after them hard." Habba, whose office is based in Newark, said she met with state law enforcement on Thursday and noted they do not have the same authority as federal officers, but they can still legally notify U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to hand off or alert them to immigration-related investigations. Democrats Rail Against 'Egregious' Ice Raid In New Jersey After Military Veteran Questioned "If anybody wants to use politics or their position to go and violate any federal law or any executive order in this state, and that includes sanctuary cities, and I'm looking at you in Paterson - I will be investigating you, and if you did commit a crime, if you ordered obstruction, if you are ordering concealment and harboring, you will be charged." Fox News Digital reached out to Murphy, Platkin and Paterson, New Jersey, Democratic Mayor Andre Sayegh for comment. Sayegh recently made waves politically last month, when he declared Paterson the American "capital of Palestine." The city has a large Muslim and Arabic population. Murphy recently suggested he was housing a migrant at his Monmouth County home and went on to dare Trump to do something about it. In February, he said he and New Jersey first lady Tammy Murphy were talking about "someone in our broader universe whose immigration status is not yet at the point that they are trying to get it to." "And we said, you know what? Let's have her live at our house above our garage," Murphy said. "Good luck to the feds coming in to try to get her." Fox News Digital reached out to NJSP for more information on the memo and its actions in regard to Murphy's order. Fox News Digital's Greg Norman and Deirdre Heavey contributed to this article source: Trump prosecutor to investigate blue state governor, AG over reported order to ignore ICE warrants
Fox News
11-04-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Trump prosecutor to investigate blue state governor, AG over reported order to ignore ICE warrants
President Donald Trump's longtime legal counsel and appointee as U.S. attorney for New Jersey announced Thursday she will launch a probe into Gov. Phil Murphy and Attorney General Matt Platkin over reports that state police were asked to ignore new immigration warrants. Alina Habba said on "Hannity" she decided to launch the probe following a Shore News Network report that an internal memo from New Jersey State Police (NJSP) Col. Patrick Callahan revealed Murphy and Platkin ordered that officers not pursue thousands of immigration warrants recently added to the National Crime Information Center. The move was reportedly meant to be in line with former Attorney General Gurbir Grewal's 2018 "Immigration Trust Directive," which limited the types of voluntary assistance state and local police could offer the feds. "We know that the governor has on his website, currently, dos and don'ts for his local state of law enforcement. Those dos and don'ts instruct them not to cooperate with illegal immigrants who have administrative warrants that have been issued by the court after due process," Habba said. "It is instructing them to go against our federal rules, our executive orders." She said her new probe into Murphy and Platkin should be a warning to all other state leaders that if they hinder the FBI, DEA or other federal law enforcement agencies, they will be held accountable. "[W]e are to take all criminal, violent criminals and criminals out of this country and to completely enforce federal law. And anybody who does get in the way of what we are doing - which is not political, it is simply against crime - will be charged in the state of New Jersey for obstruction, for concealment, and I will come after them hard." Habba, whose office is based in Newark, said she met with state law enforcement on Thursday and noted they do not have the same authority as federal officers, but they can still legally notify U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to hand off or alert them to immigration-related investigations. "If anybody wants to use politics or their position to go and violate any federal law or any executive order in this state, and that includes sanctuary cities, and I'm looking at you in Paterson - I will be investigating you, and if you did commit a crime, if you ordered obstruction, if you are ordering concealment and harboring, you will be charged." Fox News Digital reached out to Murphy, Platkin and Paterson, New Jersey, Democratic Mayor Andre Sayegh for comment. Sayegh recently made waves politically last month, when he declared Paterson the American "capital of Palestine." The city has a large Muslim and Arabic population. Murphy recently suggested he was housing a migrant at his Monmouth County home and went on to dare Trump to do something about it. In February, he said he and New Jersey first lady Tammy Murphy were talking about "someone in our broader universe whose immigration status is not yet at the point that they are trying to get it to." "And we said, you know what? Let's have her live at our house above our garage," Murphy said. "Good luck to the feds coming in to try to get her." Fox News Digital reached out to NJSP for more information on the memo and its actions in regard to Murphy's order.
