Man's Central Park Rope Death Ruled A Homicide 9 Months Later: NYPD

CENTRAL PARK — The dead man found lying in a Central Park meadow last fall with a rope around his neck had been strangled by someone else, police said Friday — also revealing the man's name for the first time.

Police have declared a homicide in the death of Elvis Garcia, a 26-year-old homeless man who was discovered on Sept. 22 just after 8 a.m., lying in the grass in A Native Meadow — a tranquil corner of the park near East 65th Street, a short walk from Wollman Rink and the Central Park Zoo.

Garcia had a rope tied around his neck and was unconscious and unresponsive, police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police declared a homicide because of the complex way in which the rope was tied around Garcia's neck — "knotted in such a way that he couldn't have done that" himself, an NYPD spokesperson told Patch.

The medical examiner ruled Garcia died from asphyxia due to strangulation, the spokesperson said.

The black rope had apparently been taken from a few nearby wooden stakes, where it had been tied to create an enclosure to keep people out of a restricted area of the park, police said.

Nobody has been arrested, but an investigation is ongoing, police said Friday.

The then-unidentified victim was known for frequenting the park, the New York Post reported at the time. His body was reportedly discovered by a woman who was gardening.

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