This is for personal, noncommercial use only.
Today's Front Page
Gas Buddy
Holiday crowd could yield clues in marina death
Print this Article- Font Size:
- Default font size
- Larger font size
SEA ISLE CITY - On typically busy bar nights this Memorial Day weekend, detectives will walk the streets, asking questions they hope will shed light on the city's biggest mystery - the February death of Tracy Hottenstein.
Authorities hope to find some of the same people this weekend who were in Sea Isle during the weekend of the city's Polar Bear Plunge, when Hottenstein's clothed, wet body was found on the muddy banks of the city's marina.
Last week, the Southern Regional Medical Examiner's Office ruled Hottenstein's death an accident due to hypothermia from exposure and acute alcohol intoxication.
But there remain many unanswered questions, including how the 35-year-old woman from Conshohocken, Pa., ended up at the 42nd Place marina the morning of Feb. 15 or how she apparently fell into the bay.
The county Prosecutor's Office mobile command vehicle - a 33-foot tactical office on wheels - will be located at John F. Kennedy Boulevard and Landis Avenue tonight, Saturday and Sunday. Authorities are looking for anyone who saw a woman fitting Hottenstein's description that morning.
Hottenstein left the Ocean Drive Bar and Restaurant on Landis Avenue at 2:15 a.m. Feb. 15, leaving behind her cell phone, purse and vest.
At 7:50 a.m., her body was found a half-mile away at the marina, located under the shadow of the Sea Isle City Bridge.
Authorities believe she somehow ended up in the water near the marina, got out of the bay and walked in her socks before falling to the ground.
Hottenstein had three fractured ribs, which indicated she fell, as well as cuts and bruises to her upper and lower extremities, according to the Southern Regional Medical Examiner's Office.
The blond pharmaceuticals sales rep was found fully dressed, but her clothes were wet.
Prosecutor Robert Taylor has said there is no evidence that Hottenstein was the victim of a sexual assault
She was wearing a pink plaid hat, a pink scarf, a black long-sleeved top, dark blue jeans and tan Uggs boots.
Investigators later recovered one of her boots and her hat from the bay. Another boot and her scarf are missing.
Lynanne B. Wescott, the lawyer representing Hottenstein's parents, said last week that it was good that authorities were reaching out to the public.
"The huge unanswered question is why was she at the marina, and who was she with," she said. "It's not like this is a kid. So those are the real issues, and how did the injuries that she had occur?"
Last week, the family filed a notice of intent to sue Sea Isle City, saying its marina was unsafe, in disrepair and unstable. The notice implies Hottenstein fell from unsafe docks, although investigators have not established that.
The notice also wanted the city to better control public drinking and activities during the Polar Bear Plunge as well as take better public safety precautions at the marina.
Anyone who may have seen Hottenstein in the early morning of Feb. 15 can call the county Prosecutor's Office at 609-465-1135, the Sea Isle City police at 609-263-4311 or in person at John F. Kennedy Boulevard and Landis Avenue during the weekend.
E-mail Brian Ianieri:
Posted in Cape_may on Friday, May 22, 2009 3:10 am
No comments have been posted. Be the first poster!
Click here to report a comment as abusive.