Former Waretown Woman Found Dead In Woods In Forked River

by Patricia A. Miller

Police and the Ocean County Medical Examiner’s Office are investigating the death of a woman found in a tent in a wooded area between the Lacey Inn and the Forked River Game Farm, Police Chief David A. Paprota said.

Lacey police received a third-party call from a resident of the Lacey Inn on Route 9 during the overnight hours of Aug. 3 into Aug. 4 who said someone told him that a homeless woman was deceased in the tent, the chief said.

Police conducted a foot search in the area and found the body of 51-year-old Cheri Peterson - formerly of Wells Mills Road in Waretown - dead in the tent. There were no overt signs indicating the cause of death, Paprota said.

The Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, the Ocean County Sheriff’s Department Criminal Investigations Unit and a medical examiner from the Ocean County Medical Examiner’s Office also responded. Authorities are waiting for a determination fro the Medical Examiner’s Office on how she died, the chief said.

Lacey Detective Robert Surtees is conducting the investigation, Paprota said.