Passaic authorities investigate death of teen girl

The Passaic County prosecutor's office is investigating the death of an 18-year-old woman who was discovered dead Saturday in the apartment of a Pompton Lakes police officer, according to a report on ... via Jersey Journal

[this is messed up]

never trust cops

[this is messed up]

never trust a cop

[Tom]

And to top it off, after the mess of all those cops who were in trouble this happens in Pompton Lakes at a cops apartment......

[Wolf52]

Cops are people too. I am not defending them. In my life I have known quite a few honest cops. But sadly I've known several who are a disgrace to their profession. They used their position in a wrong way. There is nothing worse than a crooked cop.

[Tom]

I totally agree with you Wolf52. I in no means think that all cops are bad. I feel sorry for the ones who are honest, hard working, putting their lives on the line to protect us. But, like you said there is nothing worse than a crooked cop.

[moved]

I totally agree with both Tom and Wolf52...There is nothing worse then a crooked cop. And their have been a few in the towns around but sooner or later they are caught for stealing, breaking/entering, womanizing, etc. That is when they are finally thrown off the force. It just takes time but sooner or later they will mess up and be caught. Unfortunately in the intrum someone else has to suffer through injury or death of a family member due to the corrupt cop. Lets thank God they are few and inbetween.

[John]

First, I'd like to say that this is a tragic event. This young woman had her whole life ahead of her. Also, I would not be so quick to judge the officer in the case. Currently, there seems to be no signs of wrong doing and I'm sure he feels horrible about the whole thing. I will however say that in reading several of the article's in the paper that there seems to be more of a sit a wait approach to this investigation as opposed to the other cops in this town, who in my opion were "witch-hunted".

I know that this is about a young womans death and that it is terrible, however the paper stated that the officer is not even being looked into as a possible suspect. I'm not saying that he should be, however I felt that that quote from the county's office was a bit premature. The papers also stated that this 18 yr old woman was drinking (under age). Is this not an illegal act?? Is this man who's apt she was at an officer of the law?? The answer to both questions are YES. Now that we are clear on that - in a perfect world, shouldn't the officer had reported her and/or contacted the young womans family??

Articles that I have read regarding the other officers in this town who have been suspended (with out pay) for a couple of yrs suggest that they have been brought in for knowing of wrong-doings and not acting on them. Is this not a similar scenario?? If someone is drinking under age or selling perscription drugs, they are both illegal - right?? So my question is, why up to this point has this officer already been cleared?? Is there town politics involved - was a family member of this young officer at some point involed in town politics??

Very interesting if you ask me....

[Tom]

You are so correct John..

[Concerned_Indivi dual]

http://www.northjersey.com/news/crimeandcourt...
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WANAQUE, NJ
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Tuesday, December 25, 2007
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Investigators are awaiting the results of toxicology tests to determine what killed 18-year-old Lauren Sendik, whose body was found at a friend's apartment in Pompton Lakes, according to the Passaic County prosecutor.
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Meanwhile, shocked family and friends of the Wanaque woman were trying to piece together what could have gone wrong.
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County Prosecutor James Avigliano declined to provide further information on the death, saying only that an investigation is ongoing.
Avigliano also declined comment on the name of the man whose apartment Sendik was found in. However, police sources and acquaintances of the girl identified the man as a Pompton Lakes policeman whom Sendik knew. He is not being investigated in her death, according to authorities.
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The friend discovered Sendik's body at 12:15 p.m. Saturday in his Broad Street apartment, where he had been letting her sleep over because she had had car trouble after partying the night before.
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Family and friends said Sendik worked the counter at King and Sons pizzeria on Hamburg Turnpike in Pompton Lakes. Sendik had worked there until 4 p.m. Friday, then gone to the Westfield Garden State Plaza to do Christmas shopping. She returned to her Wanaque home on Friday evening to get ready for a party at a residence on Willow Street in Pompton Lakes.
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Andrea Byrnes, 19, the girlfriend of Sendik's brother, Dan, was at the Sendik home on Rhonda Place in Wanaque on Friday evening. She said there was no hint of the tragedy to come.
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"She was fine," Byrnes said Monday at the Sendik home. "She had come home with Christmas presents for the family. She was getting ready to go to the party."
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According to accounts from friends and police sources, around 2:30 a.m. Sendik phoned a friend, Pompton Lakes Police Officer Jonathan Williams, who was at another party. She said her car had gotten stuck in snow and she needed a ride. Williams, 27, picked her up and brought her to his apartment. He put her on the couch and then left to go back out. He came back home after 3 a.m. and went to sleep.
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Byrnes said she didn't know why Sendik would call Williams, because she didn't think the two were particularly close friends. However, they had worked together at the pizzeria before Williams became a policeman.
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"I don't know why he didn't either take her home or take her to the hospital," Byrnes said. "I don't know why he left her there."
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Williams discovered she was dead early Saturday afternoon. Shortly after, two Pompton Lakes police officers arrived at the Sendik home. Sendik's mother was in the driveway looking at her son's new car when the police delivered news of Sendik's death.
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Sendik's friends say she was turning her life around after dropping out of Lakeland Regional High School. She'd recently taken a GED exam and was hoping to be admitted to Bergen County College in Paramus for the spring semester. She was an animal lover, enjoyed hanging by the backyard pool and liked going to clubs in New York City.
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"She had a lot of friends," said Sendik's younger sister, Caitlyn, 14. "She hated to be alone."
Another friend and former classmate described Sendik as funny and remembered playing the popular interactive video game Dance Dance Revolution with her. Before living in Wanaque, Sendik lived in Clifton.
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"Hopefully they will find out what happened," the friend said, "because I definitely want to know what happened to her."
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A wake will be held at Richards Funeral Home in Riverdale on Thursday from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. There will be a funeral Mass on Friday at 10 a.m. at St. Mary's R.C. Church, Pompton Lakes, with a burial to follow in Gate of Heaven Cemetery, East Hanover.

[Concerned_Indivi dual]

THE RECORD
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Authorities investigating Wanaque woman's suspicious death
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Monday, December 24, 2007
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By MICHAEL FEENEY
STAFF WRITER
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Friends of an 18-year-old Wanaque woman found dead over the weekend are waiting for word from authorities on what happened to her.
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“It’s horrible,” said friend and former classmate Jennifer Haner, 19, of Ringwood.
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Investigators were awaiting the results of toxicology tests as they try to determine what killed 18-year-old Lauren Sendik, whose body was found at a friend's apartment at 15 Broad Street in Pompton Lakes, Passaic County Prosecutor James Avigliano said Monday.
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Avigliano declined to provide further information, including the name of the male friend whose apartment she was found in. The friend discovered her body at 12:15 p.m. Saturday, the prosecutor said.
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Sendik had attended Lakeland Regional High School in Wanaque after moving there from Clifton, said Haner.
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“I was in shock," she said, when she heard the news. "I just broke down and started crying.” Haner met Sendik through a friend while they were in high school more than three years ago.
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“She had just moved here from Clifton and didn’t know too many people,” Haner recalled.“Me and her got along right away and I could always come to her with a problem. She was easy to talk to and she was funny as hell.”
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Haner said their boyfriends were best friends and they hung out often, sometimes going swimming in Sendik’s pool and playing popular interactive video game Dance Dance Revolution.
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Although Sendik didn’t complete high school, she worked at a Pompton Lakes pizza shop on Hamburg Turnpike and hoped to eventually attend Bergen Community College, friends said. "Hopefully they will find out what happened," Haner said, "because I definitely want to know what happened to her.”
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E-mail: [e-mail]
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Copyright © 2008 North Jersey Media Group Inc.
Copyright Infringement Notice User Agreement & Privacy Policy

[Concerned_Indivi dual]

THE RECORD
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NO FOUL PLAY IN WOMAN'S DEATH
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Monday, December 31, 2007
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BY MICHAEL J. FEENEY
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The autopsy on an 18-year-old Wanaque woman revealed there was no foul play in her death, authorities said, making the pending toxicology results essential in determining how she died.
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Lauren Sendik was found dead over a week ago in the Pompton Lakes apartment of a friend, Pompton Lakes Police Officer Jonathan Williams, 27, authorities said.
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Williams, who brought Sendik to his apartment on Broad Street, is not being investigated in the suspicious death, said Passaic County Chief Assistant Prosecutor John Latoracca. He said her death is suspicious because the cause is undetermined.
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"There is no basis to believe the officer did anything wrong," Latoracca said Friday. "We have no reason to believe her death was at someone's hand. There was no sign of trauma of any kind to her body. She wasn't assaulted."
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Williams had let Sendik sleep at his apartment because she had car trouble after attending a party on Willow Street in Pompton Lakes.
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According to accounts from friends and police, Sendik called Williams, who was at another party, around 2:30 a.m. Dec. 22 because her car had gotten stuck in snow. He picked her up and dropped her off at his apartment, where she went to sleep on a couch. He went back out and returned after 3 a.m. and went to sleep in his room. Later that afternoon, he discovered Sendik's body.
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Williams and Sendik had worked together at the King and Sons pizzeria on Hamburg Turnpike in Pompton Lakes. Sendik lived in Wanaque since 2003 and attended Lakeland Regional High School and Passaic County Technical Institute.
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"No one should draw any conclusions as to what happened here," Latoracca said. "We don't have all of the information. There are no outward signs of foul play."
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The toxicology results are expected in three to four weeks, he said.
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"Our sole interest is finding the truth, regardless of where that may take us," said Latoracca, responding to public speculation that there may have been a police coverup.
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Latoracca said the investigation is ongoing and detectives are speaking with as many people as they can, including those who attended the party that Sendik was at the night before her death.
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Pompton Lakes Police Chief William Smith said Williams was hired in December 2006. He graduated from the Passaic County Police Academy in June 2007 and was assigned to the patrol division, Smith said.
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"He's only been on patrol for a couple of months," Smith said. "But he's been doing well. He's a bright young man who does his job. He gets along very well with the public."
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Smith said Williams grew up in Pompton Lakes and used to work with the Pompton Lakes Municipal Utilities Authority.
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Williams has not been suspended and continues to work in the patrol division, Smith said.
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"He's upset with [Sendik's death] because he knew the girl," Smith said. "He never expected anything like this to happen. He thought he was just helping her out."
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E-mail: [e-mail]
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Find this article at:
http://www.northjersey.com/news/crimeandcourt...

[speed]

Lets see this was an 18 year old who was known to go to New York Clubbing. I bet she had some kind of a substance in her body. Imagine what this poor young man must be going thru.

[EDPL]

Poor young man my ass.........He is a cop. He should of upheld the law. He had a minor in his apartment drunk and passed out.....Just shows you that the pompton lakes police department is still screwed up.....

[VeryAngry]

"Poor Young Man", you must be kidding me! This guy is a Police Officer and he acted like an irresponsible playboy. He had a responsibility to this young lady and to her family. Yes, she called and asked him for assistance, but instead of taking her back to his apartment, he should have taken her right home or to another friend's house. He left this poor girl in his apartment while he went out to a local bar and continued to drink until 3am in the morning, then, returned home to sleep it off! While there may not have been a crime committed here, at the very least, this Police Officer showed very poor judgement and should be reprimanded for his actions.

[moved]

Yes.....I did know a cop who was not as bad as he is but WORST. Of course he was thrown off the police force years ago. We are not sure what happened and an autopsy will reveal the truth. I wonder if this young lady's mother knew or encouraged her going to clubs. She called him for help because it sounds like she was in trouble and knew it. Maybe...her parents did not know about her 'clubbing' and so in order to hide it from them she begged to stay over his house.

[joey]

VeryAngry wrote:

"Poor Young Man", you must be kidding me! This guy is a Police Officer and he acted like an irresponsible playboy. He had a responsibility to this young lady and to her family. Yes, she called and asked him for assistance, but instead of taking her back to his apartment, he should have taken her right home or to another friend's house. He left this poor girl in his apartment while he went out to a local bar and continued to drink until 3am in the morning, then, returned home to sleep it off! While there may not have been a crime committed here, at the very least, this Police Officer showed very poor judgement and should be reprimanded for his actions.

i heared that this girl had an abortion at 15 and 17 dose anyone no if this is true

[Wolf52]

Is it really anyone's business Joey?
She's dead and that's a permanent situation. Some people live lives of pain and horror. Some brought on by themselves and some by circumstance. If it was your sister or daughter, you'd feel the pain.
People are entitled to their personal lives, dead or alive. Think about it..... Or do the dead need to made a spectacle of for the gossip seekers?
It paints a pretty sick picture of the human condition to exploit the dead. Cops are not above the law, they're suppose to enforce and mainatin it.

[bling]

never trust a cop?? haha.guees yur screwed if you need to call the cops

[joey]

dose anyone no if the toxicology results came back
why is it taking so long its been 1 month

[EDPL]

I have not seen anything on that yet. I know it has been awhile. Don't know what the hold up is.