Pile Of Women's Clothes Near Fair Lawn Home Baffles Residents

FAIR LAWN, NJ — Local residents are left baffled and unsettled after women's clothes were found in a wooded area behind an 11th Street house near Route 208 Sunday.

"We are in this wooded area very often and this is something very out of the ordinary that seems really questionable," Dave Carota said in a Facebook post after the clothes were found. "It's hard to act like this isn't creepy. Hopefully, there is a reasonable explanation."

The Fair Lawn Police Department took possession of the clothes, but did not say if they were connected to anything or anyone, specifically.

"They cannot be sent anywhere or tested until they can be attached to a victim or a crime," said Sgt. Brian Metzler. "So until somebody comes up with any information, we can't do anything like that. We'll just hang on to them."

Bergen County Sheriff's Department spokesman Derek Sands said he was not aware of the incident and had no immediate comment. DNA and other tests cannot be performed on the clothes yet.

Carota could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon. His daughter found the clothes, PIX11 news reported. Carota said on Facebook that his daughter plays in the area where the clothes were found, about 25 feet from the family's garage.

The clothes were: A size 36D bra, size 28 jeans, a Ralph Lauren T-shirt, and underwear, NJ.com reported. The clothes appear to have been cut off whoever wore them last, according to the report. There was no identification on or in the clothes.

"My neighbors are unsettled, my family is unsettled," Carota said on Facebook.

Carota could not be immediately reached for direct comment.

Carota notified authorities and a Bergen County Sheriff's officer and a Fair Lawn police officer went and investigated, Carota said. The clothes were turned over to a Fair Lawn police detective.

Carota said he hopes the clothes are not connected to something "sinister."

"Maybe it's a prank, or high school kids brought it all here from the highway, but it wasn't the wind, and it wasn't animals," Carota said. "They were all found clumped up together, in the woods near a small creek, a natural gas Pipeline, a major highway, and our actual backyard."

Anyone with information about the clothes is asked to call the Fair Lawn Police at 201-796-1400.

Email: daniel.hubbard@patch.com