After a night out with friends, a young man reported missing from New Jersey was found crushed to death at a recycling center in Pennsylvania.
At approximately 8:40 a.m. on Saturday, police were called to Total Recycle Inc. in Birdsboro, Pennsylvania, after workers discovered a dead body. Kellen Bischoff, 19, of Manahawkin, New Jersey, was quickly identified as the victim due to his “unique” tattoos.
Bischoff recently visited family in Kutztown, Pennsylvania, about two and a half hours northwest of Manahawkin. He had attended a party near the Kutztown University campus on Friday evening.
In the early hours of Saturday morning, surveillance footage showed Bischoff climbing into a dumpster behind a Dollar Tree in Kutztown. After several hours, a recycling truck collected the contents of the dumpster, at which point Bischoff was likely compressed with the rest of the items.
The autopsy and toxicology reports are still pending, but preliminary autopsy results indicate that his injuries were consistent with being dumped into and then compressed by a trash truck. No foul play is suspected.
Bischoff graduated with honors from high school in May and was a member of his school’s wrestling team. However, music seemed to be his true passion. Additionally, he played drums in a local band and was a scholarship student at Full Sail University.
The loss of their former bandmate has devastated them.
“Kellen was the drummer in our band Hellfire and was a dear friend of all of ours,” Bischoff’s bandmate Julian Contreras wrote in a GoFundMe account established in his memory. “He was very dedicated and passionate about music and our band.”
The Daily Mail reported that Bischoff had an “infectious” and “fun-loving” personality that “left an impression on all who knew him.”
Bischoff is survived by his parents, Patty and Mike, his twin brother Nathaniel, and his younger sister Raegan. A memorial service will be held for Bischoff at Maxwell-Tobie Funeral Home in Manahawkin on Sunday. The family requests donations in Bischoff’s memory to Pointer Rescue, Happy Paws Rescue, and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in lieu of flowers.
“Continue to pound those skins our mighty Irish warrior and we will be listening and we will hear you,” said the obituary.