Hikers find man’s body along forest trail. He was shot to death, NJ officials say
This story was updated March 10 at 5:30 p.m. EST to include that the body has been identified.
Multiple hikers stumbled upon a man’s body while walking through a forest reserve in New Jersey, according to a local prosecutor’s office.
It was determined he was shot to death, the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office said in a March 5 news release.
Now a homicide investigation is underway after the discovery of the man’s body at Eagle Rock Reservation, which is over 400 acres large, on March 4, and authorities are seeking information on what happened, the release said.
The man was identified as Kelsey Steels, 31, of New York City, the prosecutor’s office said in a March 10 news release.
No suspects were specified, and no arrests have been made as of March 10.
The reservation is in northern New Jersey in the towns of West Orange, Montclair and Verona. The body was found on the West Orange and Montclair border, according to the prosecutor’s office.
In December 2016, a woman’s body was found in Eagle Rock Reservation in West Orange, and she was one of three victims of a convicted serial killer, the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office said in a Oct. 7 news release.
The accused serial killer, Khalil Wheeler-Weaver, was sentenced to 160 years on Oct. 6 for killing the three women and attempting to kill another in 2016, the office said.
This story was originally published March 7, 2022 at 8:13 AM with the headline "Hikers find man’s body along forest trail. He was shot to death, NJ officials say."
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