Months after crash, human remains found stuck in car’s undercarriage, NJ police say

A rattling sound coming from a New Jersey woman’s car led her to take the vehicle to an auto repair shop — and there she learned it wasn’t a mechanical problem causing the strange noise, according to local media.

As her car was lifted for service, workers “found some parts of human remains stuck in the undercarriage,” a public information officer with the Linden Police Department told McClatchy News.

Included in those remains were human teeth and hair, NJ.com reported.

Authorities learned the human remains were connected to the woman’s involvement in a December multi-vehicle pedestrian crash on the New Jersey Turnpike in Essex County.

Police say a man was killed after several vehicles hit him while he pushed a shopping cart on the roadway, My Central Jersey reported.

“Unfortunately, for whatever reason, these remains were simply not discovered at the time of the crash,” the police spokesperson said.

Authorities were not looking for a driver as this was not a hit-and-run.

The newly found human remains were turned over to the Essex County Medical Examiner Office, and police do not expect to be involved further.

Linden is part of the New York Metropolitan Area in northeast New Jersey.

This story was originally published February 9, 2022 at 6:26 PM with the headline "Months after crash, human remains found stuck in car’s undercarriage, NJ police say."