Workers clearing walkways at a 55-and-older housing complex in Deer Park on Long Island found a man dead and buried beneath snow Monday afternoon, and Suffolk County police said detectives believe the death was not criminal.
The discovery added to the strain of a major winter storm that left some neighborhoods with waist-high banks and slowed cleanup across Suffolk County. Police have not identified the man, and the Suffolk County medical examiner will perform an autopsy to determine the cause of death as investigators try to learn why he was outside and how long he had been covered by snow.
Crews hired to shovel the complex were working through dense, heavy drifts when the cleanup took a sudden turn, residents said. A neighbor who asked not to be identified said she heard shovels scraping for an extended time and then heard people shouting outside. “I heard the shoveling, so what I did was I came to the door,” she said. She said a worker told her, “There’s a dead man in the snow.” Another neighbor, also declining to be identified, said one of the workers brushed away snow and realized he was looking at a person, not debris. “The guy, he was working like this. He touched it. He says, ‘What happened, what’s that?’ Then you see the head there,” the neighbor said. Police said the man was found dead just before 4 p.m. Monday.
A Suffolk County Police press release said workers discovered the man buried near a walkway at a housing complex at 7 Parkcenter Drive at about 3:45 p.m. Officers responded and the man was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. Homicide Squad detectives opened an investigation, a standard step for unattended deaths, and said they believe the cause was non-criminal. The Office of the Suffolk County Medical Examiner will determine the cause of death during an autopsy, according to the release. Police said the man’s name was being withheld while next of kin were notified, and they did not say whether he was a resident. Neighbors told local media they believed they knew who he was and that he lived in the complex near where he was found.
The death unfolded as parts of Long Island dug out from one of the deepest storms in years. The Town of Babylon, which includes Deer Park, said it recorded 29.5 inches of snow and described the storm as a historic event. The town said heavy, wet snow created equipment challenges, including plows getting stuck and faster wear on blades, and that high winds could keep blowing snow back onto cleared streets. Officials said the county imposed a travel ban late Sunday that lasted into Monday morning, with exceptions for essential workers and plow operators. In a storm update posted Monday afternoon, the town said crews would continue clearing roads around the clock and expected it could take at least 48 hours to make all roads passable, with wider cleanup continuing well into the weekend and likely into the following week.
Weather stations and spotters reported totals that put the storm among the biggest in the tri-state area in decades. NBC New York, citing National Weather Service reports, said Central Islip measured 31 inches, with East Islip and Patchogue at 30 inches and Babylon at 29.5 inches. The station said Central Park in Manhattan recorded 19.7 inches, the ninth-biggest snowfall there in recorded history. The heavy totals meant many neighborhoods faced days of digging out even after the wind eased. Town officials said the density of the snow slowed plowing, and that drifts could reform on streets that had already been cleared. At the Deer Park complex, residents said the storm piled snow into ridges along walkways and around parked cars, leaving crews to chip away in layers rather than sweep it aside in one pass.
For residents at the senior complex, the storm was more than an inconvenience, neighbors said. Snow was nearly waist-high in some parts of the property Tuesday, leaving narrow tunnels between parked cars, doors and walkways. One neighbor said piles along the paths had not been fully removed, even as residents tried to get to medical appointments and to check on friends. “It’s unacceptable,” the neighbor said. Frank Daconta, 62, said he struggled to get in and out of his unit and worried about neighbors with limited mobility who could not shovel for themselves. He described a man in a wheelchair who was effectively trapped, with a wall of snow he estimated at about 5 feet piled in front of the door. Another resident, Eddie Velasquez, said the snow pressed so hard against his door that he could not push it open. News 12 Long Island said Monday night that the property manager had not commented and that it was still seeking a response.
The complex is designed for residents 55 and older, and neighbors said that made the lingering snow a special concern. Several people said they feared blocked doors and narrowed paths could delay help if an ambulance or fire crew needed quick access. While town and county plows focus first on public roads, residents said private contractors control much of the snow removal within apartment parking areas and walkways, which can leave some pockets buried longer. In Deer Park, residents said they saw shoveling crews moving from building to building, clearing only enough space to open doors and create a single narrow path. That approach, they said, left large banks in place and made it harder to see what was under the surface, especially where the storm piled snow into ridges along the sides of walkways.
Investigators have released few details about the man’s final hours, and police have not said whether he died during the storm or was outside for another reason. Detectives said the medical examiner’s findings will be key to answering whether the man suffered a medical emergency, died from exposure or had another cause that might not be obvious at the scene. Police also have not said whether the man had been reported missing, whether he was alone, or whether drifting snow later covered him after he fell. Even when detectives say a death appears non-criminal, investigators still document the scene and speak with witnesses to rule out foul play and to build a clear timeline. Police said information can be shared with the Homicide Squad at 631-852-6392.
Neighbors said the discovery rattled a complex that had already been anxious about the storm’s aftermath. Some residents watched from windows as officers marked off the area and workers stepped back from the walkway. Others said they stayed inside, listening to the steady sound of scraping shovels and the rumble of plows in nearby streets. Several residents said they did not know the man who was found, but they worried the victim could be someone they had passed in the hallway days earlier. The combination of deep snow, limited mobility and an aging population can make severe storms especially isolating, residents said, and the death sharpened their concern that not everyone in the complex could easily ask for help or leave home when conditions outside turned dangerous.
As of Tuesday, Suffolk County police had not released the man’s identity, and the autopsy was pending. Town officials said road clearing in Babylon would continue for days, and residents at the Deer Park complex said they were still waiting for wider paths and deeper piles to be removed.
Author note: Last updated February 28, 2026.