Body Found in Abandoned House ID’d As Brick Man, 45

Squankum Road in Lakewood, N.J. (Credit: Google Maps)

The man who was found dead in an abandoned Lakewood house Thursday night has been identified as a Brick Township resident.

Michael Matthews, 45, was last known to be living on Lynnwood Avenue in Brick, the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office said Friday afternoon. His body was discovered Thursday night around 8 p.m. in an abandoned home on Squankum Road.

An autopsy on the body, which was moderately to severely decomposed, according to the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office was performed Friday but turned out to be inconclusive.

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“Currently, there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding Michael’s death found,” said Al Della Fave, spokesman for the prosecutor’s office.

The official cause of death is pending a toxicology report, which can take between four to six weeks to complete, Della Fave said.

The man may have been a squatter at the abandoned home, authorities said.

“A canvas of the neighborhood revealed that there were a few squatters seen in the area,” Della Fave said in a statement issued earlier Friday. “Most recently, the deceased was observed in the last two weeks at the residence. The residence was secured pending the outcome of the autopsy.”