Mystery Solved: Tombstone Found In Nutley Bus Station

Police have finally figured out the identity of “Max Ferriera,” the mysterious honoree named on a tombstone found in a NJ Transit bus terminal in Nutley.

He’s a dog.

On Aug. 5, Nutley police sent out an alert that officers found an engraved tombstone at the NJ Transit bus terminal on Washington Avenue.

The engraving read:

Max Ferreira

6.16.90 – 9.29.98

Authorities then began a month-long search for the tombstone’s owner, reaching out to surrounding police agencies and local cemeteries as well as the media.

• See related article: Police Find Tombstone In NJ Transit Bus Terminal

“Until we can determine how and why this headstone was left, we can only speculate that it was removed from a human grave,” Nutley Police Chief Thomas Strumolo stated at the time.

As it turned out, police should have been checking local animal hospitals, not funeral homes.

On Monday, the Nutley Police Department sent out an update, alerting the community that the mystery of Max Ferriera had been solved.

“Detectives matched records with a local animal hospital that determined Max Ferriera born June 16, 1990 was that of a Rottweiler,” police stated. “The pet passed away September 29, 1998, and lead authorities to believe it may have been from a local cemetery. The owner was traced to Agostino Ferriera of Parker St. in Newark, but records indicate he moved to Florida in 2004 and passed away in 2005. How the stone ended up on bus terminal property has not yet been determined.”

Photo courtesy of the Nutley Police Department