Horrific NJ discovery might prove my grim point (Opinion)

Ridgefield Park is a quiet place. Things just don’t happen here. It’s a small town in Bergen county with a little over 12,000 people. Teenagers there might even calling boring.

Now they have a mystery on their hands and it’s a mystery that I think might prove a point of mine.

First, the story:

A suspicious “large plastic container” was reported to police sitting in front of someone’s home. I’m sure police and neighbors thought that once they looked inside it, it would be a simple explanation: lawn clippings left behind by a landscape company or some donated clothing that fell off a truck perhaps.

Something reasonable and mundane. Something very, well, Ridgefield Park.

When they arrived it was the stuff of horror movies.

Police found body parts. Human body parts. Human remains stuffed inside this dark green plastic barrel with a black lid. Obviously an investigation is ongoing.

“It’s so scary to know that somebody just stuffed somebody in a barrel, like they are nothing. It’s so scary. That’s really brutal,” one neighbor told CBS New York.

How would you like to be the homeowner of the house this was left in front of? How much did the police interrogate these poor people?

Although, anyone else living nearby must have had a good talking to as well. Do you remember the very sad case of Autumn Pasquale of Woodbury? A 12-year-old girl who was tragically killed over something as stupid as a bicycle? The jerks who did it, also teenagers, put her remains in a garbage bin in front of a neighboring house just a few doors down. So I’m sure police need to suspect everybody initially.

Now, on to my grim point. For many years I have said that when I’m driving around and I see a garbage bag left somewhere in an unlikely place, my mind can’t help but wonder if there’s a body inside. People who hear this either think I’m completely insane or their eyes light up and they say, “Oh my God me too! All the time!”

While we’re being grim, I think you can say there are two types of people in New Jersey. Those who have this dark thought and those who think the rest of us are crazy.

Now, obviously, I’m not talking about a trash bag left in front of somebody’s house because then you just have to figure it’s either trash day or the trash men missed their stop. No, I’m talking about the bag you’ll see along the side of a highway almost tucked into the woods with nothing else around it. No inmates doing a cleanup on the highway. No state DOT grass trimming operations present. Just this conspicuous, lone bag somewhere where it should not be.

Also I’m not saying I’m utterly convinced that there’s a body inside. All I’m saying is I’ve been around enough to know things like this happen, especially in a place like New Jersey. And that there could be. I mean didn’t we all grow up hearing stories about the mob here? Isn’t that why The Sopranos was set here?

In our own D&D universe here at New Jersey 101.5, our new producer Kylie Moore is of the yep-could-be-a-body mindset. Bill Doyle and our former producer Joe Votruba are of the you-guys-are-out-of-your-minds club.

So which one are you? I don’t think the following poll works in any other state other than the Dirty Jerz.

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski. Any opinions expressed are Jeff Deminski's own.