Man Wearing ‘Cement Shoes’ Found Dead On NY Shore (Photos)

An ex-convict’s body was found washed ashore in New York, stuffed in a plastic bag with “concrete shoes” on his feet.

The man, identified as 28-year-old Peter Martinez, was found outside of Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn, New York, by a student who saw his body along a shoreline. Martinez had not been shot or stabbed, officials stated.

“This individual was wrapped in black plastic bags and his arms were tied behind him,” Robert K. Boyce, chief of detectives with the NYPD, told The New York Times. “His feet were submerged in poured concrete, obviously a homicide.”

The man’s pregnant girlfriend told investigators that he “owed a lot of money” prior to his death, and had been missing for three weeks.  Martinez had an extensive criminal record — with 31 arrests total. In 2011, the New York Daily News reported, he was sentenced to two years in prison for identity theft charges.

Other charges against Martinez over the years included reckless endangerment, weapons possession and filling a false instrument, reports DNA Info. He also a gunshot wound to his leg from a previous incident.

Police sources told DNA Info that Martinez was a high-ranking member of the G Stone Crips crew, which is affiliated with rapper Bobby Shmurda.

Bodies often wash ashore in New York City, most notably the body of 21-year-old Anthony White. White was wanted in the death of his roommate at a homeless shelter, and his body was found floating in the Hudson River in March two months after his roommate’s death, The New York Times reported.

In a similar incident, a man’s body was found near a dock in Brooklyn. The body was tied to a cinder block and wrapped in a tarp with duct tape. The man’s legs were tied with an orange electrical cord.

The body had “some level of decomposition,” but investigators did not disclose how long the victim had been dead. The depth of the submergence might have played a role in decomposition, as deeper water is often colder and slows the process down. The tarp that was reportedly wrapped around the body might have also impacted the decomposition rate.

“When they’re wrapped like that, depending on how well they’re wrapped, it protects the body from scavengers and being pulled [apart],” forensic anthropologist Marcella Sorg told The New York Times.

The victim died of blunt force trauma to the head, and the death was ruled a homicide.

Sources: New York Daily News, The New York Times (2), DNA Info / Featured Image: Pixabay / Embedded Images: Martinez Family and State Department of Corrections via New York Daily News