Foul Play Not Suspected After Woman Found Dead In Trash Compactor

GRAMERCY, NY — No foul play is suspected in the death of the woman who fell down her Union Square building's trash chute in July, the city's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said Wednesday.

The body of Lara Prychodko, 48, was discovered by a building maintenance worker inside the trash compactor at Zeckendorf Towers on the corner of Irving Place and E. 15th Street on July 10, police said.

Authorities believe the woman dropped 27-stories in the chute. Her body was discovered "crushed from multiple angles" in the compactor. It was not immediately clear if Prychodko's death was accidental or a homicide, authorities said at the time.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled Prychodko's cause of death "multiple blunt impact injuries" and said the manner of her death remains "undetermined" although it is not believed she was murdered.

"The circumstances around the death are unclear; however there is no suspicion of foul play," the Chief Medical Examiner said in a statement.

The woman's father, Nicholas Prychodko, insisted that his daughter was murdered calling it "inconceivable" and "preposterous" that she would accidentally fall into the chute or use it to commit suicide.

Prychodko appeared to be drunk during the time of the incident and was in the middle of a heated divorce that forced her to undergo drug and alcohol tests.

Image courtesy of Google Maps Street View