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UPDATE: Two men are charged in the stabbing and dismemberment death of a popular Cliffside Park chef and kitchen worker whose body parts were found in bags near his apartment. CLICK HERE
The dead man was identified as Francisco R. Gonzalez Fuentes, 46, a native of El Salvador who worked as a cook and kitchen helper at the Club House Cafe on Palisade Avenue.
“The initial find at 1:57 pm was by K-9 units of the Bergen County Sheriff’s Department,” said Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli, adding that prudence required he keep certain details private while his detectives investigate.
He did, however, have high raise for Bergen County Sheriff Michael Saudino’s K-9 squad.
Police were called following the discovery behind St. Demetrius Melkite-Greek Church on Cliff Street, down the block from Gonzalez Fuentes’ Palisade Avenue apartment. Investigators moved quickly, and the parts were brought to the Bergen County Medical Examiner’s Office, in what has initially been classified as a homicide. It’s unclear what parts are still missing.
“At this time, no further information can be provided,” the prosecutor said Monday night.
The Cliffside Park section of Cliff Street runs barely seven blocks, but the stretch between Anderson Avenue and Gorge Road has been a magnet for the bizarre and unusual:
Thirteen years ago, an explosion an explosion and fire tore off the top of a five-unit apartment building a block from St. Demetios — in the same neighborhood where, 13 years earlier, two private planes collided overhead, leveling four houses.
The area has also been a breeding ground for criminals of all types, from drug dealers to domestic abusers. In recent years, it’s been the scene of a home-invasion robbery, as well as the arrest of a woman caught on a “nanny cam” beating a boy in her care with a broomstick.
A prominent member of the Hudson County chapter of the Latin Kings also had a Cliff Street address, although state records show Irvin “King Irv” Rivera still in prison in connection with the attempted murder of another gang member.
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