The unidentified woman was discovered Wednesday at a waterfront parking area within the Gateway National Recreation Area.
NEW YORK — A police investigation into the death of an unidentified woman has turned a normally quiet Plumb Beach parking area along Brooklyn’s waterfront into the center of an unanswered death investigation.
Officers were called to the area off the Belt Parkway shortly after 3 p.m. Wednesday after someone reported an unresponsive woman. Police found the woman unconscious and unresponsive, and emergency medical workers pronounced her dead at the scene. Law enforcement sources said she had been found inside a trash can.
Authorities have not released the woman’s name, age or other identifying information. They also have not said how she died or whether she suffered injuries before being discovered. The Office of Chief Medical Examiner will determine the cause and manner of death, a key step in establishing whether the case involves a crime.
The investigation continued for hours Wednesday at a location better known for outdoor recreation than police activity. Investigators examined the trash can and collected items from the parking area while officers restricted access to part of the site. The medical examiner’s office later removed the woman’s body.
Plumb Beach is part of Gateway National Recreation Area, a network of National Park Service lands in New York and New Jersey. The Brooklyn site lies next to the Belt Parkway at the entrance to Gerritsen Creek. The National Park Service describes it as a landscape of shoreline, tidal mudflats, salt marsh, a tidal lagoon, dunes and wooded thickets.
The recreation area includes a parking lot, seasonal restrooms and a launch for kayaks and other small watercraft. It is also used for windsurfing and kiteboarding. Despite sitting beside one of Brooklyn’s major highways, the waterfront can feel separated from surrounding residential areas because of its shoreline setting and limited road access.
People familiar with the area told local reporters that it is generally peaceful and does not draw the crowds associated with larger city beaches. Roberto Avitia, a Sheepshead Bay resident who said he sometimes runs near the beach at night, called the area calm and peaceful. Nathaniel Lozada said relatively few people typically use the beach.
The site’s secluded character has not been linked by police to the woman’s death. Authorities have not said where she died, how she came to be at the parking area or how long she may have been there. They also have not publicly identified the person who called 911 or disclosed whether investigators have obtained surveillance video or other records that could help establish a timeline.
No arrests had been announced as of Thursday morning, and police had not described anyone as a suspect. Officials have also stopped short of calling the death a homicide while they await medical findings and continue gathering evidence.
The case remains focused on two basic questions: who the woman was and how she died. Police are continuing the investigation, while the medical examiner’s findings could determine the direction of the inquiry and whether additional criminal investigative steps follow.
Author note: Last updated September 17, 2026.