David Koscuik: New Jersey man last seen alive in Brooklyn found dead inside a car trunk as family struggles to find answers

LAKEWOOD, NEW JERSEY: A New Jersey man who vanished in Brooklyn was discovered dead in the trunk of a car in his hometown, authorities said.

His brother said he was left in the dark about the mysterious death.

David Koscuik's brother says he has no idea what is going on 

David Koscuik, 57, of Lakewood, was last seen alive on February 8 in Brooklyn, where he had gone for unknown reasons, according to the Manchester Township Police Department.

Koscuik was reported missing to Manchester police on February 16 after not being seen for eight days. The department posted a missing person bulletin on its Instagram two weeks ago.

He was wearing a black Pittsburgh Steelers sweatshirt and driving a gray 2017 Chevrolet Malibu with Jersey number plate.

Two weeks later, on Wednesday, February 28, his body was found at around 12.15 pm inside the trunk of a parked vehicle on Fairway Court in Lakewood, Ocean County prosecutor Bradley D Billhimer said, the New York Post reported. 

He did not disclose the make of the car or how Koscuik died. “I have no idea what’s going on. I haven’t been getting any answers [from authorities],” his older brother Anthony Koscuik, 62, told the  Publication on Saturday, March 2.

David Koscuik's brother Anthony was shocked when he was gone 

Anthony Koscuik, who the family remembers as an ‘easygoing’ man was suspected to be in some sort of trouble. 

Anthony Koscuik who flew in from Orlando, Florida, to arrange the funeral of his brother, said he last spoke with his brother on February 2 and sensed something was wrong.

“I asked him what was going on and he said, ‘I’m just tired.’ That didn’t sound right,” he said.

Anthony Koscuik said he couldn’t think of any reason why someone would want to hurt his brother

Anthony said his brother was a chemical operator who had been living with their mother in Lakewood until she passed away in September 2023.

He also said his brother had struggled with drug addiction but was in rehab.

David's brother Tony Koscuik told the Asbury Park Press that David was last seen on February 2 leaving his late mother's home on New Hampshire Avenue in Lakewood with two men.

David later called his girlfriend and said he was trying to get home from Brooklyn. Tony also said David had found a job a few months ago at Renaissance Pharmaceuticals in Lakewood.

He had recently received a tax refund and a paycheck, his brother said.

Besides describing Koscuik as "easy-going," Antony told the publication that  “nothing ever bothered," his brother David Koscuik.

“He rolled with the punches,” he said, adding “Maybe his heart gave out and then scumbags threw him in the trunk.”

The prosecutor said the investigation into Koscuik’s death was “active and ongoing” and there was “no known danger to the public.”

He said more information would be released when it became available as the cause of Koscuik’s death remains under investigation.