Foul play not suspected in 2 deaths in Central Park waters

NEW YORK (AP) — The bodies of two men have been discovered over two days in Central Park, each floating in a lake, but investigators don’t believe either was the victim of a crime, police said Wednesday.

The first body, of a man thought to be in his 20s or 30s, was found Tuesday in the park’s Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir, near Central Park West and 90th Street. It apparently had been there at least a month, said police Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce.

On Wednesday morning, a body of a man in his 30s, wearing pants and shoes but no shirt, and carrying identification, was found about 1 1/2 miles south of the reservoir in Swan Lake, a pond frequented by tourists near The Plaza hotel.

It had been there about one to two weeks, Boyce said. Investigators were working to confirm the ID.

The medical examiner will determine the causes of death; neither body had obvious signs of trauma.

“We don’t believe there’s criminality in either of these cases right now,” he said.

The rare occurrences — a body was last found in Central Park waters in 2015 — brought negative attention to a normally tranquil oasis in the heart of the city.