Authorities think that a missing 26-year-old Hofstra graduate who went missing was stabbed to death in a fight at a Manhattan apartment before being dumped in New Jersey, a law enforcement official told NBC 4 New York.
The official said that Joey Comunale of Stamford, Connecticut, appears to have been stabbed to death in some sort of dispute after he, two other men and three women returned from a nightclub on 14th Street late Saturday or early Sunday.
The official said that Comunale was stabbed sometime after the three women left the luxury apartment building. Authorities aren't sure how the body was removed from the apartment.
What is thought to be the 26-year-old's partially burned body was found Monmouth County's Oceanport on Wednesday morning, according to two law enforcement sources.
Chopper 4 showed an extensive law enforcement presence at the scene where the body was found, in a wooded area behind an old police department that had to relocate due to Sandy devastation. NYPD vehicles were spotted in addition to local law enforcement.
Police had said there were signs of foul play in the disappearance of Comunale, who was last seen on surveillance video entering the Grand Sutton building near the corner of East 59th Street and First Avenue Sunday morning.
Stamford police said on Wednesday that the man had gone to New York City with friends on Saturday night and separated from them at some point. Police in Connecticut have not yet contacted the friends, but are aiding the NYPD in its investigation.
He was reported missing by his father Tuesday.
Crime scene investigators were later seen carrying out bags of evidence from the apartment building. Law enforcement sources said they found bloody clothing and bloody sheets, along with a luggage cart that had evidence of blood on it.
Video captured exclusively by NBC 4 New York shows a man being apprehended at the scene and placed into the back of a police vehicle. He was taken in for questioning in Comunale's disappearance. Sources say another man is also being questioned in New York in connection with the case.
One of the two men gave police information that helped authorities locate the body in Monmouth County, the sources said.
Comunale's family has been asked to come to New Jersey to make an identification.
The family declined to comment, but friends told NBC 4 Comunale graduated from Hofstra University, was an athlete and wasn't the type to get into trouble.
One friend said, "Joey is an amazing hockey player and teammate from an incredibly close and loving family. We are hopeful that he will be returned home to those that love him the most."
Photo Credit: NBC 4 New York
