The body of an unidentified man previously recovered from a lake near the border of Elizabeth and Roselle during the afternoon hours of Sunday, April 5, has been identified as 57-year-old Richard Ince of Linden, Union County Police Department Officer in Charge Chris Debbie and acting Union County Prosecutor Grace H. Park announced Thursday.
The date was April 5 when Union County Police and the Union County Prosecutor’s Homicide Task Force responded to Warinanco Park Lake on a report of a body floating.
Mr. Ince, who was last seen by family members on December 28, 2014 and subsequently reported “missing” to Linden Police Department, had his identity confirmed yesterday through DNA analysis.
In April, an autopsy was conducted by the Union County Medical Examiner’s Office which revealed no scars or obvious signs of trauma to the body, and ruled the cause of death accidental.
The autopsy results also appear to indicate that the body had been partially or fully submerged underwater for a period of two to three months; however, the final report is still pending.