Missing Lakewood Man Found Dead

The body of a Lakewood 74-year-old who disappeared in mid-March has been found in a vacant apartment in the township - across the street from his home.Ernest Gill, Jr.'s remains were discovered by a maintenance worker today in a residential complex on John Street. He had suffered from advancing stages of dementia. His family last saw him March 11.

Results of his autopsy indicate that his death resulted from natural causes.

According to Lakewood Police Captain Paul Daley, the apartment in which Gill's body was found and the unit directly above it had been unused for a considerable amount of time. Daley dismissed speculation that Gill might have broken into the apartment.

"There were damage marks on the door," said Daley, "but we have no reason to believe that he would have been in a condition to create them." He conjectured that the unit might have been occupied and vacated by squatters, and that Gill entered through an already-damaged doorway.