Police Question Potential Suspect in New Jersey Girl's Death

WEST NEW YORK, N.J. – Police in New York City were questioning a potential suspect Thursday in connection with the death of an 18-year-old Bergen County woman whose body was found in a trash bin.

The Hudson County prosecutor's office said it had tentatively identified the body as that of Jennifer Moore of Harrington Park, who went missing after a night of drinking with a friend in Manhattan.

A law enforcement source speaking on condition of anonymity told The Associated Press that New York police believe she was either lured or forced to go from Manhattan to Hudson County, where she was strangled.

Her body was found at 4:30 a.m. Thursday. An autopsy was to be performed either Thursday or Friday.

Moore left the nightclub Guest House with a friend early Tuesday to find that her car had been towed, New York City police said.

They went to the tow pound on the West Side, where Moore's friend apparently got sick and had to be taken by ambulance to St. Vincent's Hospital.

Moore stayed behind, and according to witnesses, was later seen walking along the highway wearing a white miniskirt and black halter top.

"No one should have to lose a child," her father, Hugh Moore, told reporters outside the family's home Thursday morning before authorities had identified his daughter's body. "You can imagine, it's devastating. All the friends, everyone feels they could have done something that could have made a difference.

"She was someone who was smart and bright and funny," he said. "Wrong place, wrong time. It could happen to anybody."

The New York Post reported Thursday that Moore called her boyfriend at about 5 a.m. to say she was lost. He told her to call a taxi. But when the boyfriend tried to call her back a short time later, there was no answer, the newspaper said.

NYPD boats and a helicopter searched for the young woman along the Hudson River shoreline.