Family, Authorities Seek Clues To 1990 Death Of Beachwood Man

BEACHWOOD, NJ — The Ocean County Prosecutor's Office is seeking the public's help in solving a cold case that has been sitting in its files for more than 18 years.

Todd Sonnenfeld of Beachwood was 24 years old when he was last seen alive, leaving a Toms River bar shortly after midnight on June 2, 1990. His skeletal remains were found almost eight months later, on Jan. 28, 1991 in the wooded area along the electric transmission lines off Dover Road/Route 530 in Berkeley Township.

Authorities at the time said they suspected foul play in Sonnenfeld's death. But in the years since, they have been unable to piece together what happened between the time Sonnenfeld left the bar to walk home, and the discovery of his body.

The prosecutor's office posted copies of the missing poster Sonnenfeld's family plastered all over Beachwood and Toms River at the time on its website. Al Della Fave, spokesman for the prosecutor's office, said they hope to give the family closure.

"The reason this case has been so hard to crack is because Todd Sonnenfeld had zero enemies and no one with a motive to kill him," Della Fave said. "We are putting this out now in hopes that someone who may have seen something all those years ago or known something but may have been afraid to come forward then might come forward now."

According to Asbury Park Press news reports from the time available via the Newspapers.com website, Sonnenfeld was at Spirits Sports Bar on Route 37 on the night of June 1. Shortly after midnight he handed his car keys and wallet to a friend and left the bar, which Della Fave said was in the Kmart shopping center, to walk to the Birch Street home in Beachwood where he lived with his parents, his sister and one of his brothers. He never arrived.

His parents, Alfred and Virginia, reported him missing on June 3, and offered a $2,000 reward for information leading to finding him.

Sonnenfeld's skeleton was found by a resident walking his dogs near the JCP&L power lines off Dover Road on Jan., 28, 1991. Authorities said that based on the condition of his body, he had likely died not long after he disappeared.

James Holzapfel, who was the Ocean County prosecutor at the time, also said Sonnenfeld did not die of natural causes. Details on his cause of death were not revealed at the time.

Where Sonnenfeld's body was found would have been out of the way for him to be walking from the bar to his home, investigators said after his skeleton was found. The area along the high-tension transmission lines was frequented by kids drinking underage and illegal dumpers, but they could not rule out the possibility that he would have been walking there.

Della Fave said anyone with information can call the prosecutor's office Major Crimes Unit at 732-929-2027 ext. 3468.

Todd Sonnenfeld's parents have since passed away, Virginia in April 2016 and Alfred in January 2017, but his sister and two brothers are still hoping for answers.

"The family reached out to us recently to ask us to take another look," Della Fave said. "It's the least we could do."

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Photos of missing posters put up by family members in the wake of Todd Sonnenfeld's disappearance, provided by the Ocean County prosecutor's office