New Jersey authorities on Wednesday said a body found at a Pennsylvania landfill is that of a college student missing for more than a month, and said no foul play is suspected in the death.
John Fiocco Jr., a freshman at The College of New Jersey, was last seen in the early morning of March 25 after returning to his dormitory from an off-campus party. The body was found Tuesday and identified through dental records, authorities said Wednesday.
“Our sincere condolences go out to his parents, John and Susan Fiocco, and the entire Fiocco family and to the administration and students of The College of New Jersey,” state police Superintendent Rick Fuentes said.
Authorities said there is no evidence Fiocco was stabbed or shot, and classified his death as “suspicious,” but not as a homicide at this point in their investigation.
Fuentes said that, after contacting 1,000 students and school workers, and interviewing more than 150 friends and family members, foul play is not suspected.
Mercer County Prosecutor Joseph Bocchini Jr. said it is possible authorities will never learn exactly what happened to Fiocco. He said the investigation is continuing and a final report will be due in coming weeks.
The search for Fiocco started 36 hours after he was last seen, when his roommate reported his missing.
The next day, investigators found blood and blood-soaked material in and around a trash bin behind Fiocco’s dorm. After a laboratory confirmed the blood was Fiocco’s, investigators started sifting through a 1-acre, 20-foot deep area at the landfill in nearby Tullytown, Pa.
Authorities have said the Mantua Township native may have slid down a trash chute into the bin, although a camera used to scan the chute found no traces of blood.
The injuries that Fiocco’s body had sustained were consistent with being processed by a trash disposal system, but the body was largely intact, authorities said. They would not say whether the injuries had been sustained before or after Fiocco died.
An arts major, Fiocco in an online profile described himself as a fan of Philadelphia sports teams, professional wrestling and Batman. He graduated from Clearview Regional High School in Harrison Township, where he played football and was track team captain.
