An Ocean County man who went missing more than a week ago was found dead inside a car in a grocery store parking lot on Sunday, according to an attorney representing the family.
“The family is devastated as this was not the outcome that anyone expected. As no one plans to bury their 29 year old son,” said lawyer Jef Henninger in a statement.
Mauri Mendez, 29, disappeared on Aug. 27 after calling his mother from their Lakewood home to say he was driving to his sister’s residence in Toms River about 10 minutes away. He never showed up to the house and calls to his cell phone went straight to voicemail, his family said.
Police located Mendez early Sunday morning in the parking lot of the Wall Township Shoprite inside a tan 2000 Chevy Blazer, Henninger said. Mendez had borrowed the vehicle from his mother’s boyfriend while his own car was being worked on.
The death is under investigation, Henninger said.
Lakewood Police Capt. Gregory Staffordsmith confirmed Wall police located the vehicle Mendez was reported to have been using and found a deceased person inside the vehicle, but said the person’s identity has not yet been confirmed.
Mauri Mendez was driving this tan, 2000 Chevy Blazer with New Jersey license plate F62LZU when he went missing.
Authorities did not find evidence to suggest foul play during a search of the vehicle and surrounding area, Staffordsmith said, but an autopsy being conducted to confirm identity and cause of death may prove otherwise, he said.
“We ask that you keep the Mendez family in your thoughts during this difficult time,” Staffordsmith said in an email.
Mendez had a learning disability and is very trusting of people, his sister Sabrina Loehwing told NJ Advance Media. He had also recently been telling his mother that he was scared, though he wouldn’t tell his mother who or what he was afraid of.
His mother found a note in her Bible on Friday that said Mendez wanted a fresh start and was going to Florida or Ecuador, where he has family, and that he would be leaving in late September. However, his family doesn’t believe he intended to leave for either location on Aug. 27 because he didn’t pack any clothes or belongings, his bank account hadn’t been touched and he had made plans with a friend for that Saturday.
“My brother has a learning disability. He’s 29 but his mind is like a 15-year-old,” Loehwing told NJ Advance Media. “He’s vulnerable. He’s very trusting in people. He’s just a loving person. He thinks everyone he meets is his friend. I don’t know if he was talking to someone and that person wasn’t a good person. Anything is possible.”
Loehwing said Mendez also received a phone call at about 9:30 a.m. on the day he was last heard from, which lasted two to three minutes, but it traces back to a number that appears to be a prepaid cell phone.
Police obtained a warrant Friday night to seize phone company records to review Mendez’s text messages and use GPS data to determine where his phone traveled after he went missing.
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Avalon Zoppo may be reached at azoppo2@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @AvalonZoppo.
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