Drowning cause of death for missing Jersey City veteran found dead
Travis Sean Mettelholzer, 31, of Jersey City, died of drowning, according to an autopsy report. Mettelholzer's body was found floating in the Hackensack River this week.
Drowning has been determined as the cause of death of a Jersey City war veteran found floating in the Hackensack River off Kearny on Monday, about a week after the “suicidal” 31-year-old went missing.
The body of Travis Sean Mettelholzer, 31, of Jersey City, was found near 50 Campus Dr. by a warehouse worker at 9:46 a.m. Monday, Hudson County Prosecutor Guy Gregory said.
An autopsy performed at the state Regional Medical Examiner’s office in Newark resulted in a determination Mettelholzer drowned and the manner of his death was suicide, Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor Gene Rubino said yesterday. Rubino said toxicology tests are still pending.
Last week, The Jersey Journal published a story at the request of Jersey City police seeking the public’s help in locating Mettelholzer, who police said suffered from post traumatic stress syndrome, severe depression and schizo-affective disorder. Mettelholzer had been receiving treatment at the Veterans Administration Hospital in East Orange.
Mettelholzer, who served in Kandahar, Afghanistan and left the Army in July, was last seen at his home around 1 p.m. last Monday, authorities said. Before he left Mettelholzer posted a video of himself saying he loved his family and bidding them goodbye, police said.
Mettelholzer left his car keys with an employee of Foot Locker at Hudson Mall on Route 440 and asked her to contact his family so they could pick up his car, police said.