Four Indiana men are under arrest following the death of a man missing for nearly two months whose decomposing body was found in a wooded area of New Jersey, authorities said Sunday.
An investigation had been underway since hunters discovered the body of a man “in an advanced state of decomposition” on December 14.
The Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office on Sunday identified the man as Kuldeep Kumar, 35, from India, and announced the arrest of four suspects. The victim’s relatives in Ozone Park, Queens, reported him missing on October 26, authorities said.
Sourav Kumar, 23, Gaurav Singh, 27, Nirmal Singh, 30, and Gurdeep Singh, 22, all of Greenwood, Indiana, were charged with murder and conspiracy to commit murder, the office said of the prosecutor in a press release.
The Ocean County Medical Examiner’s Office said an examination of Kuldeep Kumar’s body determined his death to be a homicide due to “multiple gunshot wounds to the chest.”
Law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, NYPD and the Greenwood Town Police Department in Indiana, worked with New Jersey authorities to determine that the suspected killers “acted together and supported each other in carrying out the murder of Kuldeep Kumar.” the prosecutor’s office said.
The suspects were arrested Friday and taken to the Johnson County Jail in Franklin, Indiana, to await extradition to New Jersey.
Authorities have not released information about the motive or how the men knew each other.
