On Monday, snow shovelers on Long Island stumbled upon a chilling scene—a deceased body buried beneath the snow—as they cleared pathways following a record-breaking blizzard that hit the region.
While working near a residential complex on Parkcenter Drive in Deer Park, around 3:45 p.m., workers unearthed the body of a man beneath the snow, Suffolk County Police reported.
Authorities arrived promptly and declared the man deceased at the location, according to police statements.
Detectives suspect the man—whose identity remains confidential until family members are informed—died from non-criminal causes. However, it remains uncertain whether the man was homeless or why he was caught outside during the storm.
The Suffolk County Medical Examiner’s Office is set to conduct an autopsy to establish the definitive cause of death, police mentioned.
This tragic incident follows as parts of Suffolk County grappled with unprecedented snowfall during Winter Storm Hernando, which swept through overnight.
Babylon, the town that includes Deer Park, got hammered with 24 inches of snow as of 1 p.m., according to the latest tallies from the National Weather Service.
Nearby, in the five boroughs, no deaths tied to the blizzard had been reported as of early afternoon, according to Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
“We are not aware of any deaths related to this blizzard on our city streets or in public areas,” Mamdani said at a press conference in Brooklyn.
Hizzoner came under fire for not getting homeless New Yorkers out of the cold after the city’s last snowstorm and dangerous freeze, when at least 19 people died outside between Jan. 24 and Feb. 7 — 15 of whom died from hypothermia.
