SHAWCREST – County Prosecutor Robert L. Taylor and Chief William Mastriana of the Lower Township Police Department reported the discovery of an unidentified body at the scene of a fire in the Shawcrest Mobile Home Park located off of Route 47 in Lower Township Feb. 22.
According to Prosecutor Taylor, the first responding officers arrived at the scene at the intersection of Diane and Channel avenues and found a maintenance trailer fully engulfed in flames. Once the fire was put out, the remains of an unidentified man were found in the structure.
Detectives from the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office, Lower Township Police Department and investigators from the Cape May County Fire Marshal’s Office responded to the scene and a joint investigation is still underway.
On Feb. 28, Southern Regional Medical Examiners’ Office positively identified the remains from the fire scene as Samuel L. Mathues, 24, who was residing within the Shawcrest Mobile Home Park at the time of his death. Mathues’ cause and manner of death are still under investigation.
Prosecutor Taylor urges anyone with information regarding this incident to contact the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office at 609-465-1135 or Lower Township Police Department at 609-886-1619 or anonymously at 609-886-2711, ext. 156 or through the Cape May County Sheriff’s Tip Line at cmcsheriff.net and click on anonymous tip, or through the Cape May County Crime-Stoppers at 609-465-2800 or 877-465-2801.
