Remains of Maywood man missing since 1982 found in Overpeck Creek

On an April night in 1982, Charles Murphy and four friends went to Yankee Stadium and saw Reggie Jackson homer in his return to New York to lead the Angels to a 3-1 victory. Afterward, Murphy went missing and was never seen again.

On Tuesday, the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office stated that Murphy's remains were recovered earlier this month from Overpeck Creek in Ridgefield Park.

Murphy, of Maywood, went missing during the early morning hours of April 28, 1982 after dropping a friend off in Ridgefield Park, according to an article in The Record on June 14, 1982. Murphy and his friends went for drinks after the Yankees game in Ridgefield Park and he was last seen driving his girlfriend's 1974 silver Chevrolet Camaro. An attendant at an all-night gas station on Route 46 reported seeing a young man fitting Murphy's description.

At that time, police speculated that the “disappearance occurred under foul or suspicious circumstances,” but, two years later, a Bergen County Sheriff's Department investigator told The Record that "there was never an indication of foul play."

The investigator, Don Pecile, said in 1984, "Aside from talking to the family and the friends, we never had a lead in this case."

The Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office stated Tuesday in a release that “extensive forensic testing was required to establish identity,” but stated that “specific circumstances surrounding his disappearance remain under investigation.”

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The prosecutor's office stated that Murphy was found with "submerged artifacts" by a private, nonprofit dive company who notified authorities, but did not state if it was the Camaro that Murphy was driving.

On May 3, county divers recovered the artifacts, and since then the Bergen County sheriff’s Department, Ridgefield Park Police Department and Maywood Police Department have been investigating it with assistance from the Bergen County Office of Emergency Management and Bergen County Regional Dive Team, and the New Jersey State Police.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Remains of Maywood NJ man missing since 1982 found in Overpeck Creek