In Farmingdale, Two Bodies Too Many

Photo: Detectives carry out the body of a dead infant found in Farmingdale last Tuesday.

Shortly before 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon, residents in the tucked-in town of Farmingdale in Monmouth County witnessed something out of place that would set off the nerves of almost everyone who heard it.

In the center of town, where the historic railroad tracks run, the ReCommunity Recycling center runs quietly on Railroad Avenue. On Tuesday afternoon, however, Railroad Avenue residents noticed several New Jersey State Police cars, with a flurry of activity taking place that differed from the usual constant stream of garbage dump trucks coming and going.

In fact, there were no trucks unloading at all, due to the gruesome discovery by workers of the remains of an infant in the dumped garbage at the facility, around 1:00 p.m. that afternoon.

It would be the second time a body was discovered at the center. It would be the second time that local residents, recycling workers and law enforcement would have to come to grips with an incident that would change the course of their peaceful routines.

Farmingdale Mayor Jay Morgan says that the business normally doesn’t cause a stir in the small town, but that this isn’t the first time a dead body has been found there before.

“Sometimes, these types of things happen, but I don’t believe it’s a reflection on either the business itself or the town,” Morgan said.

Farmingdale does not have its own law enforcement and falls under New Jersey State Police jurisdiction. In this latest discovery, state troopers and detectives from the Troop C Criminal Investigations Office, out of the Hamilton station, as well as State Troopers from the New Jersey State Police Major Crimes Unit, responded to the scene at approximately 1:30 p.m., and residents began to gather within the hour.

It’s not that Farmingdale is so stereotypical of a small town that people have nothing better to do than gather and gawk at police activity. No, these residents had a much more serious reason to become suspicious when seeing multiple cruisers, and then the ominous county van - unmarked, but in obvious replacement of an ambulance to anyone paying attention.

Elizabeth Jones Hurst, born and raised in the same house on Railroad Avenue right near the facility where she is now raising her own children with her husband John, knew that something terrible had happened once more when there was no ambulance rushing to the scene, and instead a stretcher was unfolded from the van with a small body bag. She stood with other neighbors and watched as officers and detectives left the stretcher outside, and exited the building again, with one detective carrying the small bag to the back of the van.

The van brought the baby girl, pronounced deceased at approximately 3:31 p.m. on scene, to the Middlesex County Medical Examiner’s office, who conducted the autopsy the next day, and reported along with State Police that the infant still had her umbilical cord attached.

Hurst expressed what many residents had also agreed with: Could this have been avoidable?

“It’s so sad to hear of something like this, especially when New Jersey has a Safe Haven law,” Hurst said. “All you can do is pray for the soul of whomever did this, and hope that they come forward.”

Investigators believe that the infant and blood-stained clothing found in close proximity to the body came to the facility with collected trash from several towns in Monmouth County, making it a difficult task to find where it had come from, Detective Sgt. Frank Robina said.

According to a police spokeswoman, information was unavailable on whether the infant had been stillborn, or if the infant might have died sometime after birth.

However, detectives have released photographs of the clothing, hoping that someone may recognize these items in order to help identify the mother.

Residents in Farmingdale had witnessed this scene before - this was the second time in the last few years that a dead body had been found at the recycling center.

Although a sign in front of the building still says “JFD Recycling”, the facility is now owned by ReCommunity Recycling, which bought the center in July of this year, according to Kim, an office worker at the business who declined to give her last name.

When asked about the history of the facility, and the previous discovery of a body only a few years back, Kim said that the business had all new employees under the new ownership, and that no one working there now would have knowledge of that incident.

Morgan, who has been the mayor of Farmingdale for 11 years, informed Patch that the Farmingdale industrial site had been the scene of a gruesome discovery only three years ago.

At that time, workers had found what was later determined to be a homeless man’s body. Morgan says that police believed the homeless man had been sleeping in a dumpster that was picked up by dump trucks and brought to the plant, and had passed away either in the dumpster before arriving at the plant.

Residents of Farmingdale speaking with Patch also confirmed that a body had been found in recent years, and Detective Sgt. Frank Robina, assigned to the latest incident, confirmed as well that this was the second body discovered at the center.

Robina was unable to give specific details on the previous incident.

Hurst could possibly be on the money when speaking about New Jersey’s baby Safe Haven laws, but certain advocates say not enough education about the program is available.

Both incidents in the small-town scene of Farmingdale shed light on larger issues on a grander scale. Michael and Jean Morrisey of Baby Safe Haven emailed Patch, noting the fact that the deceased Farmingdale infant found was the fourth discovered in a period of less then one week.

“From November 7 to 13, four babies were abandoned in four different states from coast to coast. Three of the babies died,” the Morrisey’s said in a joint statement.

The Morrisey’s say a lack of education about available Safe Haven options is to blame, for younger mothers as well as immigrant women who may need help.

As for the tragedy that occurred three years ago, with the homeless man in the dumpster?

According to a 2013 report, the homeless population in Monmouth County is also one of the highest in the state.

The most common reasons listed for being homeless in the county were loss of job, inability to find work, and discharge from jail, according to the report.

What is to be done?

“Farmingdale just happened to be the location this time, but it’s too early to make conclusions for the reasons,” Morgan said. “But it doesn’t mean there isn’t a problem in the biggest picture,” he concluded.

What do you think? Does Monmouth County have a homeless problem, or not enough education for Baby Safe Havens? Let us know what you think in the comments.