April 1, 2021 By Allie Griffin
The NYPD has launched a homicide investigation in relation to the death of a man whose body was found wrapped in a trash bag floating in the East River off Astoria in January.
Police identified the victim as 48-year-old Sergio Alvarez of the Bronx and said that the Medical Examiner had determined he had been murdered.
His body was found after a suspicious looking trash bag was spotted floating in the East River near 30th Road and Vernon Boulevard on Jan. 11 at 11:15 a.m. An NYPD Harbor retrieved the bag and brought it to the Astoria Ferry Terminal.
Alvarez’s body was inside the garbage bag, wrapped in a blanket with duct tape securing it closed, police said.
The police have made no arrests at this point.
Sources told the New York Daily News that Alvarez’s face and body had severe trauma — a sign that he was likely beaten to death.