MIDDLE TOWNSHIP POLICE RELEASE:
COURT HOUSE – Middle Township Police Chief Joseph Evangelista announces the investigation into the report of a missing person, identified as 18 year old Joseph Cotton, of Goshen Road in Cape May Court House, NJ.
On June 17, 2009, Cotton’s mother reported her son missing to the Middle Township Police Department. Mrs. Cotton stated that her estranged son had not been heard from in over one week and that she was concerned for his well-being. Upon receiving this report, the Middle Township Police Major Crimes Unit initiated an investigation and sought the assistance of other area law enforcement agencies including the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office and the Cape May County Sheriff’s Department’s K-9 Unit and from the public.
On June 19, 2009, officers from the Middle Township Police Department and the Sheriff’s Department K-9 Unit found the deceased body of Joseph Cotton in a wooded area in the Cape May Court House section of Middle Township. The subsequent investigation by the Middle Township Police Major Crimes Unit, the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes and Crime Scene Unit and the Southern Regional Medical Examiner’s Office, concluded that Cotton died as a result of suicide.
Chief Evangelista acknowledges the cooperative investigative efforts by all law enforcement agencies in this investigation.
