John Fiocco Jr Update

Update: Click "main" above or here for the latest info on a body found in a PA landfill today.

via The Trentonian, a paper I read everyday growing up, has an interesting update on the Fiocco investigation. It seems there is a garbage chute in Woolfe Hall. Years ago I can remember a night or two of fun there, after drinking Schlitz Dark in the TSC Pub. Strange, the things you remember from your college days.

Unfortunately, a night of fun evidently turned tragic for Fiocco. Police appear to have two theories - he may have died and the crime was disposing of the body, or was killed, with the body having then been disposed of through the trash.

I imagine it's possible Fiocco had an altercation with someone that led to his death and they simply dropped him in the garbage chute - how sad.

Law enforcement officials, who did not wish to be identified, said charges could eventually stem from one of two scenarios:

Fiocco might have died accidentally and had one or more persons take actions that caused his body to end up in the garbage dumpster outside his dorm.

Or, one or more persons might have caused Fiocco’s death and then disposed of his body.

Either way, authorities yesterday zeroed in on one particular garbage truck that had been under guard at the campus until it was moved yesterday afternoon to the State Police forensics headquarters in Hamilton.

State Police Sgt. Stephen Jones said there were no plans to search the two lakes on the TCNJ campus.

Comments

[anniekwa]

How incredibly sad. This young man appeared to have such a promising future. My heart goes out to his family.

[SinCerely]

Real sad. I live and work within 5 miles of the land fill they are searching. Seeing the news van's in the parking lot this afternoon really hit home.

What is it now a day that makes life so disposable?

[Phoenix]

Can you imagine a parent sending their kid off to school all happy with his prospects for the future. Then they get a call by the police telling them their child is dead.

I just can't grasp what that does to a parent. A car wreck is a terrible, sudden tragedy, and illness another. But there is something sacrosanct about school.... Your mind can't even wrap around this kind of thing.

Too sad to believe.

[raindrops]

my son is in college - i can't imagine what i would want to do to someone who would drop him down a garbage chute - your precious child that you have raised, loved, and have so many hopes for and someone treats him like he means nothing at all - they would end up putting me in prison when it was all over, i fear

[jill]

I had thought that maybe he was drunk and fooling around, and went down the garbage chute.

Then I read that police found blood, in - and around - the dumpster outside. Unless he was wounded and bleeding, and climbed into the dumpster himself, he had to have had help.

[Donna Csaniz]

I've known John ever since he was a little boy. I still feel like this is a bad nightmare. He was the nicest kid. Always smiling and very respectful. I cant imagine why someone would want to hurt him. I'm still praying he comes home to his family & friends. We love you John.

[Pam]

How very, very sad. I can only imagine the pain his parents are feeling. College isn't supposed to be like this, what is going on? The world doesn't value human life it seems. Husbands killing wifes, their own children, and this. My heart goes out to his parents and family. May God give you each the strength you need at this difficult time.

[Ellen]

I could totally see drunk college boys thinking it might be funny to drop their drunk friend who has passed out down a garbage chute. He probably got scraped on the way down leaving blood everywhere.

[a mom]

what in the world is happening with our college children...every parent's heart is aching for this intelligent, attractive, congenial young man and his family...there must be someone on the campus that knows something about the events that unfolded that Friday evening/Saturday morning and can find the inner strength and a way to at least help the search teams find him. I cannot begin to imagine how this family is coping during these unbearable days as they wait for some word of their son and brother. The family deserves the solace of knowing what happened the night of this tragedy. We are all human beings. It dosn't make it right but I am sure many of us remember our college days where we were no strangers to parties either. Why are so many of our kids making so many mistakes in judgement today? I hope his family can find comfort & strength in the support of other parents and our constant prayers that someone will step forward if they know anything. Your son could have been mine. And this could have happened on any college campus in America. How very sad indeed. May God bless John.

[Gina]

My daughter graduated TCNJ in December and lived in Wolfe Hall during her freshman year on the 9th floor. I wonder if they thought to check the roof? Interestingly, as I told the Mercer County Prosecutor's office, CSI (the Las Vagas one) reran the story where the girl dumped her trash down the chute, lost control of the waste basket, tried to retrieve it and ... eventually ended up being compacted with no one really at fault, just a convolution of incidents. Maybe someone thought they could get away with a crime by putting him in the trash. Very, very sad, no one heard a thing, My daughter said that the walls are cement block, many students go home on the weekends and one can only hear cans going down the chute. She said it would be very hard to put yourself down the chute or fall in, and the opening isn't that large. She is only 5'6" and about 135 lbs. How does a male athlete go down the chute?
I pray every day for him and his family, it kind of gives a real meaning to the word "closure" when you see the searching going on on TV. I am sure that they will get him back and, if a crime was commited, someone will eventually talk. My daughter said that , since it isn't a college town, there is a lot of crime off campus, especially at drinking parties when people show up that noone knows.

[Diane]

John Fiocco is my daughter's nephew. I just can't imagine what his family is going through. We are all praying for his return or at least the knowledge that he is alive.

[Linda]

Has there been any recent news on the search for John Fiocco? We have not heard a thing.

[Aoife Connolly]

He could not possibly fall down the chute. For the investigators not to make that clear is ridiculous on their part in my honest opinion. I lived in Wolfe Hall in 2001 and there were times I couldn't fit garbage bags down the chute. One time, somebody tried stuffing a rolled up carpet down the chute at the end of the semester and it got stuck. There is no way he was just dropped down the chute. If anything, he could have been cut up and placed down that way. But, please, he did not fall down the chute. Also to open the chute, and climb in it would be impossible, at least from what I remember about it.

[Cali]

There are many speculations. Bottom line- my thoughts and prayers are with this entire family. I have 2 children in college, one is a junior at TCNJ, and I cannot imagine this in my worst nightmare - happening to one of my children or loved ones. God Bless John and his family!!!

[ada]

John will be found, the truth will come out. May God's Love give strength
to his family and to all of us who have been touched by this tragedy. I would check all his friends to see if it was a prank gone wrong .

[Theresa Lange]

My son, Ron, graduated last year with John. He had John in many of his classes througout high school. He called from college to tell me about John's disappearance and was truly saddened. He said John is one of nicest people you would ever want to meet. He was always helpful and friendly to everyone and very well liked. My heart goes out to his family and I pray daily for them all.

[Susan Gruff]

This case reminds me of one at Cornell years ago. A student got drunk, climbed onto the roof of a rival fraternity's house and into their chimney while not realizing how small the space inside the chimney was. I think it was during fall break that he did this. No one knew he was there and he died a slow agonizing death in that chimney while they were searching all over campus for him. (No one knows for sure if this is the true sequence of events, since no one else was there. I have always wondered if someone else was involved and was too afraid to speak up about it.) One of the fraternity guys that lived in the house remembered hearing a cry for help during the day, during one of the weeks that the student was missing, and went outside to check. Seeing nothing, the frat guy just went back inside. Several weeks later they went to light a fire in the fireplace and a wallet fell out of the chimney when they opened the flue. The fire department had to remove the poor student's frozen body by taking the chimney apart. It really was dreadful to think that the poor guy suffered all of those days in that chimney.

How I think this compares is that I have the theory that he may have been drunk and went down the trash chute on a lark. He got injured on his landing in the trash container. When he was unconscious, in the dark early morning hours, a garbage truck probably backed in and automatically lifted the dumpster up dumping the contents into the truck with no one being aware that there was a precious cargo being overlooked. I hope to God that I am wrong. I hope that he is alive and well somewhere.

Susan, a native South Jerseyan now living in Ithaca, NY

[Jane]

As a parent my heart continues to be heavy and I pray for the family daily. Evidently John's life is of no value by comparison to the lives of those who know what happened that morning. His family deserves to know the truth about their son and I can't imagine how anyone who has information would not come forward. If someone did cause him harm deliberatly then I pray for them as well, they need to know the truth about love and the value of another human being.

I trust that John's family is strengthened by the prayers of others. The truth will come to light, it always does.

Praying for you John and your family

[Tina]

I work for a doctor that John Sr use to work for. all of my co-workers and i sit and pray that this young man is found I believe that his family is just trying to live day to day it is so heart retching to just wait it out. I pray that it will come to a close soon. i personally believe that someone has to know what happened to John and hopefully they come forward soon. May the Fiocco family finally get some peace soon. warmest thoughts, Tina

[GinaS]

I pray that this is the answer everyone who has accepted the fact that John probably isn't alive has been waiting for. I have prayed every day that they find that dear boy. I worked on "Joan's Law" for about 30-40 hours a week from 1993 until 1997 and she is my special angel. She always is there to answer my prayers which are very very rarely for myself. I asked her to please bring him home and then to please hurry and bring him home. Joan (aged 7) was raped,beaten and murdered on Holy Thursday by a neighbor HS Chemistry teacher(Joseph McGowan) in 1973 and he comes up for parole again in 2010. They found her on Easter Sunday dumped in Tallman Park in NY.
Now, John's family can have him to bury and have a place to visit him instead of always wondering. Thank God! If a crime or prank was committed, or if anyone knows anything, please,please speak up and ease this family's burden even more.

[Chrisha]

I live in Hamilton, NJ and am a graduate of TCNJ, 2004 (I used to live in Travers Hall, right next to Wolfe). Just a report:

Around 1:45 pm, authorities uncovered remains of a "white male" from the Tullytown landfill. They're almost positive it's John, but tests and stuff need to be done due to the amount of time he's been in there.

On the way home from work today, I passed an Action News truck and I made sure to watch if it got off the TCNJ exit because I had a feeling they might have found something.

It did.

I got home and heard the news, and I just started crying. I did not know him, but my heart aches for his friends and family. I also have a friend in the State Police Academy right now who's been searching for John for the past few weeks.

I am somewhat relieved that at least his poor family has their answer, although it's not a happy one. He is with God, and whoever did this to him (if someone did something) will get their justice.

My prayers go out to John, his friends, and all of his family.

[Kathleen Cherry]

What a travesty. John is now in the comfort of our Lord and hopefully his family will have some closure. God Bless them all.

[NERC]

How sad it is to hear about this young man. My daughter goes to this collage. I always ask her about him and the latest hear say that's floating around campus. I pray for his dear mother and family. It has to be a total nightmare to them all. I would of lose my mind by now. I always think about my daughters safety. 24- 7. I still feel TCNJ is a nice school and I still would send my other kids there. I pray that whoever killed him would be caught and sent to prison, where he, she needs to be. I also think the college is trying to keep a hush hush about John Fiocco Jr. cause of new kids who may want to come to TCNJ. and by hearing about this killing may hurt the in coming kids. parents may not approve of their kids coming to TCNJ. It's about $$$$$.They may say it isn't a killing. but in my mind it is. For his families sake, I hope it is him so they can begin to heal as much as possible. as a parent having his body at a grave and not a trash dump, is better.

[mom of a prospective student]

Of course this is a tremendous tragedy. Parents send their child off to college thinking for the most part he'd be safe, but I'm sure never thinking he'd be murdered or disposed of. At this juncture for me as a parent of a student POSSIBLY applying to TCNJ in the fall I have to ask, what is TCNJ doing about this? We (the public) hear nothing from them, have they conducted any internal investigation? There is possibly a murderer on their campus and in their dorms or at the very least a person or persons with very horrendous lack of judgement. This boy did not go down that trash chute by himself. As I understand it, that chute is not all that big diameter-wise. For me to have my child even think of applying to this school I would have to see the administration of TCNJ step up to the plate and come out from the shadows in the next few months and let the public know what THEY are doing about this case. I know this is a police investigation but this did happen in and on their premises to one of their students and I feel they have some ownership here. TCNJ is the most selective of all of NJ's state schools (highest SAT scores, GPA, Rank, etc.) but until I see some involvement publicly on their part, I'm not impressed. If my child was there now, I'd be concerned. My heart aches for the Fiocco family.

[bmills]

I've lived in this area for quite some time now and to hear that an event such as this has taken place really shocked me. I've read about the crime existing within the city but nothing to this extent. Coming from a college student, i can see where someone might find it amusing or adventurous to slide down a chute but by the descriptions of this chute how could he manage to fit down there himself?...Although his body is found i think there still is alot of questions to be answered. It's ashame how things can be there one moment and gone the next. If there is a person out there who has managed to live within themselves knowing what happened and even being a part of this tragedy and not speaking up, then thats really sad. Knowing that you had a role in his disappearance and still not speaking up..You still have alot to learn about life seriously!!!..My Prayers go out to the Fiocco Family, Friends and all who were affected and a part of his life. Rest In Peace John.

[student]

there is no answer to HOW he died and IF he was killed! There is no murderer running around our campus. these stupid assumptions without knowing anything for certain is what is making it so much harder for everyone. i am so impressed with how the school is handling everything, they are NOT jumping to conclusions, they are NOT trying to raise the level of stress. I am so sick of hearing what people take and make up from the media. There is a whole mess of theories that have been passed around and very few of them have been that someone KILLED him. I love this school and i have never felt unsafe and still do not. yes, it is very unsettling not knowing exactly what happend to john, and possibly never knowing. but to start making assumptions without really knowing, and then SPREADING those rumors is exactly what we do not need. stick to the facts. whether john willingly climbed into that chute or whether he had help, this is an isolated case that could have happened anywhere and our college is in quite a bit of mourning over the whole tragedy. so, like we have been complaining about since march, dont make it worst on all of us that are grieving by bashing our school, the people that live on the campus, john's floormates. i am just so sick of the media and people making insane speculations...

[sharon alvord]

i love him he would not hurt a fly

[student2]

Thank you student! TCNJ is treating this in a very professional manner. If any of the above people have read any of the campus e-mails, they would know the same thing. I have never once felt unsafe on campus and never will. Acting like this has never happened before is rediculous. There's tons of reports about colleges. What about the boys at Duke? Or the girl from John Jay College. It's impossible for the college to be aware of everything that goes on at every second.

The Fiocco family is in my prayers.

[Jess]

I do not know John. I am a freshman at the University of South Carolina. I have been following John's story since it first arose and I am saddened by it. It is comforting, however, to know that John is in a better place. The story is a tagic one, but I hope that over time, the family's hearts will heal. I can't imagine if anything like this happened on my campus. Much Love, Jess H.

[Candi Bright]

I am so very sorry for your loss~I have three sons and I can only begin to imagine your pain.

[Mike]

Is there any possibility that he could have drank too much and on the way back to his room started feeling sick and decided to puke down the garbage shoot? Maybe he just lost his balance? Any signs of vomit in the trash shoot? Just a theory.. My condolences to the family.

[Lou]

I think it was a prank gone wrong by drunk college kids.

[Mike]

I think by now they would have reported if they found any signs of blood or vomit in the trash chute. He could still have fallen down there accidently, if we was really drunk. (Dropped his keys while he was emptying the trash and tried to catch them maybe?) It's unlikely though. The openings to trash chutes are usually pretty small, and at an awkward height for someone to fall through. I usually have to push and shove to get even a normally stuffed kitchen trash bag down mine. If he did go down the chute drunk, it was more likely some of his buddies who did it. Either as a prank (He passed out on the floor and they dumped him in thinking it would be funny.) or deliberately (He could have died accidently from a fall or alcohol poisining and some of his buddies panicked, and dumped his body to hide it since they were under age.) It's also possible he was murdered if he got into a fight with someone - knocked out without leaving blood, or even pushed down the chute while still conscious, although that would probably take a couple of guys to do. He could have even been killed outside the dorm by the dumpster. Unless some witness comes forward, or the investigators already have information they're not making public, we might never find out what really happened to him.

[NERC]

I have a child who goes to TCNJ jr yr, I feel ok with the college, cause I personally think every college has their dark sides. So you have to always be aware and have your guards up 24- 7. But It is very serious when murder happens on campus, then ALL red flags wave and I feel fear for my child. I have learned alot about college life since my kid is there. Yesterday I visited her and while there she showed me what the garbage chute looks like. I WAS SHOCKED , and now definitly believe someone had a hand in his death. There's no way anyone can fit in that entrance without getting stuck. People who don't know thinks it's a good size entrance. and will accept the story of it was accident. What I saw was a small door which wasn't no bigger than my computer screen just a tab bigger, plus the door pulls down like a oven door. I just can't see him falling down it. plus the chute isn't insight from the hall. you have to open a door which looks like a closet door. then inside is open space like a empty closet would look. and the chute is made into the wall. very small chute door. I think no one seen this happening cause they were inside this closet like space. so I really think the police and school isn't letting the public know the truth. I think the chute is made for waste baskets to be empty in not big large containers what we may think. anyhow I know the college wish for everything to go away. because of new enrollments which means money. I just feel that this school covers up it's dirt or dark side. I still wonder about the girl who died in the shower. on this campus. it was also said to be a accident and she must of slipped and bumped her head, this happened in the AM hours also.. and nothing more was said. this was about a year or so ago. also how about the rape that happened on campus a few months ago. hmmmmm no one talks about the dirty wash. Well. the kids knows more than you think. Listen to them and take in what they are saying. I think Adults tend to talk to much and not listen. we are in their territory. stop and listen. you may learn something.
My prayers goes out to Johns family.

[a mom]

To The Family of John Fiocco, Jr - on the eve of his Memorial Service,

In times like these it's
hard to say
those special words to ease your day
and even though words alone can't heal
the difficulty that you now feel
remember that family and friends (your TCNJ family of friends) out there
are saying for you a special prayer.

[student 3]

I agree with both of the students who posted. I lived in Wolfe Hall right under John. He was a nice, great kid and I am extremely sorry for his family. Just going through this at school was hard enough never mind losing your child.

I think that some of the people posting on this out to watch what they say because all this speculating is probably what hurts the Fiocco family the most. Some of these people's "theories" aren't even possible, seeing there is information to disprove them, which I will not share because, frankly, it's not anyone's business but John's family and friends.

Please respect the family and stop trying to be detectives.

Also, TCNJ is a wonderful place that, although I have only been there for one year, I feel as if it is my home. It is extremely safe and comprised of wonderful people who I am proud to call my family. The president Barbara Gittenstien sent out e-mails to the whole campus while this tragedy was at its peak, and unlike other people, was extremely professional and very giving of information that was TRUE not speculated.

PLEASE HAVE SOME RESPECT

r.i.p john<3

[stormy]

Whatever happened about John Jr? Did they find out anything else. It's so sad. No one should die like that and be discarded. It's immoral..