Authorities Seek Leads On Human Skull Found In Brick

BRICK, NJ -- (Updated, 1:45 p.m.) Authorities are seeking the public's help and information in connection with the skull found Tuesday in the Lake Riviera section of Brick Township.

Al Della Fave, spokesman for the Ocean County Prosecutor's office, said the skull was discovered about 3 p.m. on Tuesday, confirming information that was given to the Brick Patch by a resident who lives in the part of Lake Riviera where the skull was found.

Della Fave supplied photos of the skull. 

The skull was lying just off the road at the edge of a wooded area in the area of Arizona Drive and Old Toms River Road, according to a photo supplied by the resident.

Old Toms River Road/Arizona Drive was closed Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday between Beaverson Boulevard and Emerald Drive while authorities searched the woods for anything related to the skull, Brick police said.

An initial statement referred to it as a head, but was later clarified as a skull.

For years, kids who lived in Lake Riviera rode bicycles in those wooded areas that border Old Toms River Road and behind homes that sit on Arizona Drive, cutting through those woods on their way to Lake Riviera Middle School, which is across Beaverson Boulevard.

Old Toms River Road intersects with Beaverson Boulevard at the bend where Beaverson becomes Shorrock Street; once an almost 90-degree turn, the road was reconfigured and the angle widened and a traffic signal was installed at the Old Toms River Road-Beaverson intersection.

As of this school year, however, students are no longer permitted to ride bicycles to the middle school because of the volume of traffic along Beaverson, which becomes Shorrock as it turns the corner right near where the search is being conducted. That increased traffic is due in part to the fact that Shorrock now connects directly to the Garden State Parkway at the western end of the road, where it crosses Route 70 by Home Depot.

Another resident said there were rumors that a homeless man had been living in one of the wooded spots.

Anyone with information regarding this investigation should call the Brick Township Police Department at 732-262-1143 or the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office at 732-929-2027.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated as more information becomes available.

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