Colonial Heights Friend Remembers Lauren Conte as Caring Mom and Nature-Lover

Lauren Conte enjoyed long walks around Lake Parsippany and the Colonial Heights Apartments complex where she grew up, remembers her friend and neighbor Danny Margotta, who knew her since childhood.

In the past year, she was usually pushing her infant son in a stroller. "You always saw her in the neighborhood with him,'' Margotta said.

But Conte was alone on Dec. 22, . She left her mom's apartment to smoke a cigarette around 3:30 p.m. and never came home. Her

The result of preliminary investigations indicate that she died of drowning and hypothermia, and no foul play was suspected, according to the Morris County Prosecutor's Office.

Margotta can't imagine Conte, who lived with her mom, would have intentionally left her son for any length of time without letting anyone know.

He thinks that if the lake was icy that day, Conte might have stepped out onto the ice and fallen through. 

Conte enjoyed being outdoors and she liked nature, Margotta said. In the summer, she often brought her son to the pool.

She had a lot of friends in Colonial Heights and when she went missing, they were deeply concerned, he said. "There were a lot of people praying for her," he said.

On a grassy spot beside the lake, near where her Conte's body was found, a small memorial was erected on Tuesday, with candles and cards reading, "We love you Lauren.''

"She was a sweet girl,'' Margotta said. "It's not just a loss to her family, it's a loss to the whole neighborhood. It's devastating for all of us.''