Headless corpse with no arms washes up on NYC beach – two weeks after missing Irish filmmaker, 44, was last seen on nearby stretch of sand
An investigation has been launched after a headless body was discovered on a beach in New York City’s Rockaways.
The NYPD responded to Breezy Point Beach just after noon on Friday after receiving reports of a human torso at 911.
Officers from the 100th Precinct responded to the gruesome sight where a human torso with legs still attached but no arms was found lying on the sand.
The discovery comes just weeks after a talented Irish filmmaker named Ross McDonnell disappeared from his New York home and his bicycle was later found on Fort Tilden Beach near Roxbury – just three miles from Breezy Point Beach.
A decapitated body, also without arms, was found on a beach in the Rockaways near Breezy Point Beach just after noon Friday
The identity of the body found on Friday will not be released until the family has been notified
Earlier this month, Emmy award-winning filmmaker Ross McDonnell disappeared after leaving his home in Brooklyn, New York on Saturday evening, November 4.
His bicycle was found three days later, chained up on Fort Tilden Beach near Roxbury
Emmy Award winner McDonnell, 44, was last seen late on the night of Saturday, November 4, at Fort Tilden Beach near Roxbury, where his bicycle was found locked three days later.
Earlier this month, friend Gene Gallerano told The Irish Times that McDonnell appears to have been on the beach but “went into the ocean” before disappearing.
The identity of the body found on Friday will not be released until the family has been notified.
The NYPD has not disclosed whether the body washed up on shore or was dumped on the beach.
The Chief Medical Examiner’s Officer was on scene to determine the cause of death
It is not known whether the body was dumped or washed ashore
The gruesome site of the headless, armless body was discovered on Friday afternoon
The city’s chief medical examiner is now trying to determine the exact cause of death
The city’s chief medical examiner is now trying to determine the exact cause of death.
McDonnel was last seen on November 4 around 8:30 p.m.
Originally from Dublin, he won a 2021 Emmy Award for his cinematography on the Showtime series The Trade and lived in Taaffe Place near DeKalb Avenue in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn.
He had worked extensively around the world, including Afghanistan, Ukraine and Mexico, and was nominated for another Emmy in 2018 as director of the CNN Films documentary Elián.
Friends have called for his return and started spreading the word on social media, including one describing him as a “diamond that is in all our hearts.”
Detectives were on scene throughout Friday afternoon
Law enforcement officers, along with representatives from the medical examiner’s office, were on site
The talented photographer and filmmaker McDonnell had worked extensively around the world, including Afghanistan, Ukraine and Mexico
“Ross and I have worked together many times,” Eoin Butler wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
‘He’s been missing for a week. We have been given permission to share this image today. Everyone in the New York area… please share.”
“He is an incredible human being and his disappearance has caused indescribable fear among his friends and family,” Alexander Kellum added.
McDonnell’s first feature film, Colony, debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival and won an Irish Film and Television Award nomination.
He won an Emmy Award in 2021 for his cinematography on the Showtime series The Trade, and was nominated for another in 2018 as director of the CNN Films documentary Elián.
McDonnell’s work as a cinematographer, director and photographer has taken him around the world, from Bolivia to Ukraine and Afghanistan to Mexico
He is also a talented photographer and was shortlisted in 2019 for the world’s best photography award, the Prix Pictet, for his work on the theme of ‘hope’.
He was wearing a red puffy Northface vest, a black Northface backpack, black and white sneakers and dark-colored khaki pants when he disappeared.
New York police have urged anyone who may have found his belongings to contact them.
“You won’t get in trouble for collecting his belongings, we just want to look for clues to his disappearance as quickly as possible,” they said.