Body of Missing Rabbi Found in N.J. River
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Police have found the body of a respected Manhattan Rabbi in a river in New Jersey after he had been missing for more than a day, officials said.
Rabbi Zev Segal, 91, who was well-known on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, was discovered yesterday inside his Mercury Marquis, which had been submerged in the Hackensack River, officials said. Segal, who had been missing since Wednesday, apparently drove off the Pulaski Skyway on his way home after celebrating the 25th anniversary of his son’s radio show.
“Like many New Yorkers, I knew of Rabbi Zev Segal’s reputation as a scholar, as the builder of a strong Jewish community, and as a man who brought people together,” Mayor Bloomberg said in a statement. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the Segal family during this very difficult time. Baruch dayan emet — may this family know no more sorrow.”
From the initial investigation, authorities said they did not believe that foul play was involved in Segal’s death, the Hudson County prosecutor, Edward DeFazio, told the Associated Press.
Following an announcement on Wednesday that Segal was missing, hundreds of members of the city’s Jewish community pitched in to help find the him. Hatzolah members from across the city and New Jersey joined in on what was described on the Web log theyeshivaworld.com as a huge search. A state senator of Brooklyn, Carl Kruger, had established a 24-hour hotline and offered a $2,500 reward for information leading to Segal’s return.
“The family can take solace in the many friends who surround them and in the knowledge that the entire community banded together, quickly and efficiently, to help locate Zev Segal and bring closure to his loved ones,” Mr. Kruger said.
Before Segal went missing, he had been in Jersey City at the anniversary show for his son, Nachum Segal, a popular radio host on WFMU. Segal’s son had traveled to Israel with Mr. Bloomberg to dedicate the new Holocaust memorial and museum.
“From his children, I know that Rabbi Segal was a man of sharp intellect and strong character, great spirit and good humor,” Mr. Bloomberg said.
