One dead body and an alive one were found inside a garbage truck just outside a middle school. This shocking incident occurred on Thursday, May 29, near a Long Island middle school, according to PEOPLE.
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One Dead Body In Garbage Truck Found Outside Middle School, Alongside Live Body
The two men were sleeping in a dumpster in Commack, New York, before a waste collector came to empty it. This was early Thursday morning, so the men were likely still asleep when they were dumped.
Then, around 6:30 AM, someone noticed a body in the back of the truck. The truck had driven around five miles, stopping outside of William T. Rogers Middle School in Kings Park.
Once they notified police, authorities removed the live person and transferred them to Huntington Hospital. They arrived only with a leg injury and managed to get out of the truck with help.
“Somehow, he was able to climb out of that,” said Kings Park Fire Department Assistant Chief Michael Frail, via WABC. ” I wish I could tell you how.”
Unfortunately, police pronounced the second man dead at the scene. They found him burried beneath piles of trash. “According to the driver, there was multiple loads in there,” said Frail. “So he could’ve been anywhere in there.”
The police didn’t identify the two men, so we don’t know who they are or if they knew each other. They also don’t yet know the man’s cause of death, according to Associated Press. Still, they’re confident that the man wasn’t dead before he was dumped into the truck.
School officials have issued a statement to parents following the incident outside their school. They assured parents that the bodies in the garbage truck were “completely unrelated” to the middle school.
“There is absolutely no threat to the safety of students, faculty or staff and the school day is operating as usual,” it wrote.
Although unrelated to the school, parents were still stunned. “I didn’t expect that one,” said Mustafa Zamal to WABC, a parent to an 8th grader from the middle school.
The outlet also spoke with retail workers who share dumpsters with the one containing the bodies. “Sometimes we do see some people dumpster diving here,” said Geoffrey Schwartz, a business owner. “But… we don’t think they’re gonna spend the night.”