The unidentified woman was discovered near Rockaway Community Park, and authorities have not yet determined her cause of death.
QUEENS, N.Y. — Police are investigating the death of an unidentified woman whose body was found in a shallow grave near Rockaway Community Park in Queens late Saturday, authorities and local reports said.
Officers from the New York Police Department’s 100th Precinct responded to the area of Beach 58th Street and Almeda Avenue at about 9:42 p.m. Oct. 24 after a 911 caller reported the discovery. Police found the woman in a shallow grave near a cricket field and pronounced her dead at the scene. Authorities had not publicly identified her as of Sunday.
Police sources told local news outlets that the woman appeared to be in her 30s and that her body showed signs of decomposition. The New York Post reported that she had been wrapped in a blanket. Authorities have not publicly explained how long the woman may have been at the location or how she came to be buried there.
The death had not been classified as a homicide as of Sunday. The New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner is expected to determine the cause and manner of death. Police have not announced evidence establishing whether the woman died at the park or somewhere else before her body was placed there.
Investigators were also working to establish the woman’s identity. Police sources told amNewYork that her description could potentially match that of a missing person, but officials had not confirmed an identification. Authorities had not released the woman’s name, a detailed description or information about when she was last seen.
Rockaway Community Park is in the Edgemere section of Queens near Jamaica Bay. The park stretches through an area near Almeda Avenue and several numbered beach streets. Despite some early reports describing the discovery as occurring on a beach, police and local reporting placed the scene in or near the community park.
No arrests had been announced by Sunday, and police had not publicly identified a suspect or released a possible motive. Investigators also had not disclosed whether evidence recovered from the area indicated how the woman died or who may have placed her body in the grave.
The investigation remained active Sunday as detectives awaited identification of the woman and findings from the medical examiner. Authorities had not announced when additional information would be released.
Author note: Last updated October 25, 2026.