An exterminator called to a Glendale public school on Tuesday morning found the remains of an unidentified adult male stuffed inside a chimney, according to reporting by the New York Daily News, NBC New York, and QNS.
Police received a call just before 9 a.m. at P.S./I.S. 113, the Anthony J. Pranzo School, at 78-23 87th St. NBC New York, citing a law enforcement source, reported that a janitor first smelled something pungent coming from the chimney and called an exterminator, who then opened the ash dump and found a shoe, then felt a foot. School custodian Brendan Chavez told QNS he was the second person to see the remains, after the pest control worker flagged him down.
“It was the pest control guy who caught the smell and opened it up and found an older man inside,” Chavez told QNS. “It was definitely not a kid but an older gentleman with like a nine-inch foot. The pest control guy who found it first, I was the second guy. He was here but he went home, I guess it was too much for him.”
P.S./I.S. 113 serves about 750 students in pre-K through eighth grade, according to NBC New York. The building was empty when the remains were found. The school year ended the previous Friday and the building has been closed all summer for construction work. No students or staff were inside, police said.
A law enforcement source initially told QNS the remains were thought to belong to a contractor working on the school. By Tuesday afternoon, all contractors had been accounted for, QNS reported. The same source said the body may have been in the chimney for several weeks.
The school is a construction site. NBC New York, citing an Associated Press review of City Buildings Department records, reported that recent permits cover wiring, hot-water heating, and other work; scaffolding covers much of the building’s exterior.
The city’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner removed the remains and will determine cause of death, according to QNS. Officers from the NYPD’s Emergency Services Unit also responded, the Daily News reported. Crime scene investigators from the 104th Precinct were seen on the school’s rooftop Tuesday afternoon, and the NYPD said no arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing, QNS reported.
Department of Education spokeswoman Dominique Ellison said in a statement reported by the Daily News: “This discovery is deeply upsetting and concerning, and we are making sure the right supports are in place for the entire school community while the NYPD investigates. There were no students present this morning as the building is closed this summer for construction.”
Glendale resident George Perez told QNS he came to the school after his 11-year-old daughter Hazel, a student there, received phone calls about the discovery. “The guy must have been dead for days. It’s kind of scary. I’m shocked to be honest with you,” Perez said. Neighbor Maggie Rosario, who came out after hearing helicopters and sirens, told QNS that a summer camp at the school was set to begin the following week.
