“There’s a void in my gut,” said Matthew Collado’s mom
Credit: Matthew Collado/Facebook
NEED TO KNOW
- A 29-year-old man, who has now been identified as Matthew Collado, was found dead inside a chimney at a New York City public school on June 30
- His body was found weeks after he vanished and was reported missing, and now his grieving mother is hoping for answers
- An investigation into his death remains ongoing
A grieving mother is searching for answers after her 29-year-old son’s body was found in the chimney of a New York City public school weeks after he vanished.
“There’s a void in my gut,” Sophia Wood told the New York Daily News following the death of her son, Matthew Collado. “I walk around in a daze. I still haven’t believed it yet.”
On June 30, human remains were found inside the chimney of P.S./I.S. 113 Anthony J. Pranzo in Queens after the school had already closed for the summer.
“Upon arrival, officers were informed possible human remains had been discovered inside a chimney,” a New York Police Department spokesperson said at the time, adding that there “were no students or school staff inside the building.”
Weeks later, Wood learned that the victim was her missing son, CBS affiliate WCBS and the Daily News reported.
His cause and manner of death remain pending, according to the outlets.
A spokesperson for the NYPD confirms to PEOPLE that an investigation into Collado’s death is ongoing while the NYC Office of the Chief Medical Examiner did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
For Collado’s mom, the haunting discovery has only raised more questions. The 29-year-old man was last seen leaving his apartment in Jamaica, Queens, shortly after 3 a.m. local time on May 9, according to surveillance footage obtained by WCBS.
Wood had planned to meet her son the following day to celebrate Mother’s Day, but he never arrived.
“I sent him a text, like, ‘Hello?’ Which meant I was annoyed because why am I texting you on Mother’s Day? You’re supposed to be calling me first, right?” Wood told the outlet. “I didn’t make a big deal about it. I just figured, ‘I’m gonna go home and I’m gonna trust that he’s fine.’ ”
Credit: Barry Williams/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty
She later searched his apartment, only to find his door propped open with a deadbolt, according to the outlets.
“He left his phone, his wallet,” the concerned mother told the Daily News. “The door was propped open and I was afraid to push it. I was afraid of what I was going to see when I pushed it open.”
By May 13, Collado’s family filed a missing persons report and began their own extensive search, according to the outlets.
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In late June, Wood saw the news about the discovery at the school, but she didn’t learn the victim was her son until weeks later, she told the Daily News.
Everything about the case — from his late-night departure to the location of his body — makes no sense to her.
Now, Wood is hoping for answers as she continues to grieve. She listens to the songs that her son, an aspiring rapper, shared online — and clings to the memory of his “bright smile,” according to the paper.
“It was me, my daughter and my son,” Wood told the Daily News. “We were the power of three, and now we’re missing one. It hurts us.”
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