Matthew Collado, an aspiring rapper, has been identified as the 'badly decomposed body' that was found lodged in a Queens public school chimney. Collado, 29, was reportedly an aspiring rapper. However, according to his mother, Collado was 'afraid of heights,' while also hating smoke and fire.
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Collado's body was discovered on June 30, when an exterminator was called into the school due to a vile smell, per The New York Post. It took almost a month for the body to be identified.
"It was another month after the gruesome discovery before Matthew Collado's desperate mother learned the body found in the chimney in the school in Glendale in June was her missing son," the New York Daily News reports. "But that was far from the end to the mystery."
Collado's mother, Sophia Wood, also told the outlet that ""There's a void in my gut. I walk around in a daze; I still haven't believed it yet."
There is currently no information as to how Collado ended up in the chimney nor the cause of his death. An investigation is now pending, as authorities seeks answers to what has become a mystery waiting to be solved.
Matthew Collado Hadn't Been Heard From Since Mother's Day
According to Wood, she hadn't heard from her son since Mother's Day. During that conversation, Collado told his mother that he would be spending the day with his grandmother at her nursing home. He never showed up.
Following his disappearance, Wood began posting flyers throughout her neighbourhood. Now, following confirmation of her sons death, she is looking for closure.
"The cops have nothing. There's no cameras. There's no videos. No footage of how he ended up there, how he got into the school," Wood said. "There's nothing."
Wood continued by noting that Collado was afraid of heights. As such, she doubts he would have climbed up to the school's chimney.
"My son was afraid of heights so him climbing up there? That is not my son," Wood continued. "He hates fire. He hates smoke. A chimney? It doesn't jive with my son and who he was."
More details will likely be shared as they become available.
