Skeletal remains were found Monday in the basement of a home under construction in Queens, New York.
The remains have been identified as human, according to the New York Daily News, NBC News 4 and The New York Post.
Police responded to a 911 call about bones discovered at 119-22 Jamaica Avenue in Richmond Hill, Queens, around 1:55 p.m. Monday afternoon, the NYPD told PEOPLE.
“Upon arrival, a construction worker advised officers that they had discovered bones in the basement of the location,” the NYPD said.
The investigation remains active and ongoing, the NYPD confirms.
The police could not confirm the gender of the deceased. Additionally, the NYPD could not confirm whether the entire body was found or how the person died.
Skeletal remains in the basement of an unoccupied building at 119-22 Jamaica Avenue in Queens, New York City, on Monday, January 29, 2024.
Gardiner Anderson for NY Daily News via Getty
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The building received a Department of Buildings violation on November 14, 2023. The violation reported the building’s failure to seal basement door openings. The building was previously covered with concrete, which was eventually broken. As a result, the building was no longer protected from unauthorized access and the public.
The 2023 violation followed complaints a month earlier of rodents escaping from the basement.
One complaint stated that the roof of the home “call in all the way and could be seen from a passing train,” the New York Daily News reported.
Recently, the building was boarded up in anticipation of a renovation project.
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Police are investigating after skeletal remains were found in Queens, New York on Monday, January 29, 2024.
Gardiner Anderson for NY Daily News via Getty
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One neighbor said New York Post that the building had been unoccupied for more than 20 years. “The building had a fast food restaurant [on the ground floor] — there was chicken there, then they had a delicatessen, said the neighbor. “They had tenants on top.”
“The building caught fire, and they never repaired it,” he added. “So it’s been empty all these years.”
“They used to do a lot of drugs in this area,” added the neighbor. “Could be a squatter – who knows.”
A nearby resident named Mike shared s New York Post that for the past five years he had been curious and suspicious of the empty building. He shared that he became suspicious after smelling a “nasty” smell on a walk “five to seven years ago.”
After authorities arrived on Monday, Mike shared information about an incident from several years ago. “I’m not surprised because I smelled something and they didn’t answer me,” he added.
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Representatives for the New York Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and the Department of Buildings did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for more information on Wednesday.
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