A Queens, New York, elementary and middle school is at the center of a macabre mystery after a corpse was found stuffed inside one of the building’s chimneys.
As reported by NBC New York, the discovery came after a “foul odor” had been reported wafting through the PS/IS 113 Anthony J Pranzo in Glendale, which serves 750 students from prekindergarten through eighth grade.
As the odor intensified, a search began for the cause. An exterminator was duly summoned, with the expectation that this would be a dead rat, a pigeon, or some other common New York vermin.
Early on Tuesday morning, the exterminator narrowed his search down to one of the building’s chimneys. He opened the ash dump and peered inside. Waiting for him was a shoe. He looked further and saw a human foot. He called 911 immediately. At 9 am, the cops were summoned and secured the building.
The city’s medical examiner arrived and removed the remains from the chimney and, as writing, is examining them to discover the deceased’s identity and cause of death. It’s unclear whether this is death by misadventure or foul play.
Contractors were working on the school over that week as part of a summer-long program to renovate electrical wiring and hot-water heating, and detectives are now double-checking whether all the workers meant to be in the school over the past few days are accounted for.
This discovery is deeply upsetting and concerning
Thankfully, the school had broken up for the summer on June 26, so no students or teaching staff were present in the building when the discovery was made.
Even so, the Department of Education has put out a statement saying that, “This discovery is deeply upsetting and concerning, and we are making sure the right supports are in place for the entire school community while NYPD investigates”. They have also confirmed it’s making support available to any students, families, or staff affected by this news.
New York as a whole is currently enjoying historically low crime figures, with Gothamist reporting that the city has experienced its fewest murders on record. However, “low” is not nothing, and over the past weeks, we’ve seen an upstate New York grandma found dead alongside her children and grandchildren, a father-of-seven shot after confronting a passenger on a bus in the Bronx for being too loud on the phone, and reports of a “suspected serial killer” at an apartment complex in Brooklyn.
The investigation into the mystery body continues.
Published: Jul 2, 2026 06:13 am