Riverdale woman dies in apparent suicide

A Riverdale woman who had been reported missing was found dead last week.

Jennifer Sack, 37, was last seen leaving her Henry Hudson Parkway apartment around 5:40 p.m on Jan. 3.

Her body was found in Fort Washington Park on the morning of Jan. 6, about one-third of a mile south of the George Washington Bridge. A dog walker who made the discovery notified a security guard, who contacted the Port Authority Police Department, said Port Authority of New York and New Jersey spokeswoman Lenis Rodrigues.

According to Ms. Rodrigues, police received a call on Jan. 3 reporting that a woman who matched Ms. Sack’s description was threatening to commit suicide on the George Washington Bridge. She said police were not able to make contact with the victim, and there is no evidence officially confirming that Ms. Sack jumped from the bridge.

Typically, when the Port Authority police receive a tip concerning a suicide threat, they send officers to try to locate the individual in danger and alert authorities in New York and New Jersey.

Ms. Rodrigues declined to give more information, stating that police were still investigating the case. New York City’s chief medical examiner’s office is working to determine the exact cause of death.

After reporting her missing, family members told radio station 1010 WINS that Ms. Sack suffered from depression.

In an email, her father’s cousin Ronni Gordon wrote that she was surprised and devastated by the news.

“I just saw her at our Hanukkah party on Dec. 13 and had such a nice time talking to her,” she stated. “We made plans for me to stay with her next year when I came down for the party, and afterwards, she Facebook messaged me, ‘It was so great to see you today!’ I had no idea that she was suffering. I always gravitated to her at family events and thought she was beautiful, funny and full of life,” she wrote. “When I read that she was missing and that she had left a suicide note, I hoped that she was wandering around and had changed her mind. I was heartbroken when I heard the news that her body had been found. She had her whole life ahead of her. It is a terrible loss.”