A tragic discovery inside a Brooklyn, NY public housing complex is now being investigated as a possible accident after police say a mother of four may have fallen into a garbage chute while trying to retrieve a dropped item.
Michelle Montgomery, 39, was found dead on Feb. 1 in the basement of the Borinquen Plaza complex. Workers discovered her remains inside a plastic bag that had been processed through a trash compactor.
At first, investigators feared foul play due to the severe injuries to her body. But during a Feb. 13 news conference in Manhattan, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said the evidence now points to a tragic accident.
“Our theory right now is that she may have dropped an item in the chute, went to retrieve it and fell headfirst,” Kenny said, according to The New York Times.
Police believe Montgomery may have been attempting to retrieve her purse when she lost her balance and fell down the chute into the basement. Preliminary autopsy findings and the ongoing investigation suggest her injuries — including a broken rib cage and deep cuts — were likely caused by the trash compactor itself.
Officials have not yet issued a final cause of death, but investigators believe Montgomery was alive when she entered the compactor. Chief Kenny also noted there were no visible signs of a struggle.
What remains unclear is why Montgomery was at the housing complex in the first place. She lived about four miles away, and police have not established any known connection between her and the building.
Her partner, Anthony Echevarria, told ABC 7 that Montgomery had left home Saturday evening in good spirits. The couple shared four children together, ranging in age from 19 years old to just 10 months.
Earlier that night, Montgomery had FaceTimed her sister and posted a dancing video on social media. According to police, she had been out at a Mexican restaurant with her cousin and friends before leaving around 1:20 a.m.
Surveillance footage reportedly shows her entering the housing complex alone at approximately 1:39 a.m. Witnesses later claimed they heard screaming near the garbage chute area.
When authorities found her body, she was identified through a purse containing two forms of identification.
As investigators continue reviewing evidence, what began as a suspected homicide is now believed to be a heartbreaking accident.
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This doesn’t make sense if she shouldn’t have been there and didn’t know anyone there. Makes me think someone put her in the chute. This shouldn’t be written off as an accident, maybe check cameras to see who she went into the building with. This sounds like nobody wants to bother to really look into this that is until it happens again.