Harlem Teen Found Dead in the Snow

Missing person search ends with discovery of mysterious death
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 25, 2011 10:30 AM CST
Harlem Teen Found Dead in the Snow
Gregory Willis Jr.   (NYPD)

Police have found the body of a missing Harlem teenager—but the discovery has only led to more questions. Gregory Willis Jr, who went missing on Wednesday, was found dead and almost completely buried in snow behind a high-rise building in the development where he lived, police tell the Wall Street Journal. But his body bore no external signs of trauma. A preliminary autopsy showed internal injuries consistent with a fall from some height.

That makes suicide a possibility, but Willis doesn’t fit the typical profile. He left no suicide note, had plenty of friends, a stable family, and no known mental illnesses. “There is nothing unusual that might have caused him to commit suicide,” a law-enforcement official said. “He has no criminal history, is not a gang member, and did not appear to be depressed.” He was, however, failing most of his classes at the prestigious Bronx music high school he attended. (More Gregory Willis Jr. stories.)

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