4 elderly individuals were found dead in a house on Friday in an evident carbon monoxide poisoning soon after a car or truck was left operating in an attached garage, police said.
Police confirmed that the victims were 83-year-old Jerry Hugel, his wife, 80-year-old Marie Hugel, and 70-year-old Gloria Greco. Officials stated that the identity of the fourth individual, a 76-year-old man, will be released after his family members are notified.
The bodies had been discovered when a relative of the Hugels went to check up on them as they haven’t been answering their telephone at their property in Queens. Jerry Hugel had been found next to a running auto in the garage.
Neighbors were lining up the streets in the suburban Floral Park neighborhood as police and firefighters were working around the two-story home.
“They were excellent individuals,” Helga Harter, a neighbor who had has known the couple for decades now stated with tears as she stood on a street corner, looking at the house. “They have been married for 60 years.”
“I am in shock,” Harter stated. “It is the greatest shock of my life.”
The Hugels had 5 children, including a son who is a New York Police Division officer, Harter said. The president of the NYPD Sergeants Benevolent Association, Ed Mullins, stated that that everyone’s thoughts and prayers are with the family.
Jerry Hugel had been the president of the Bavarian group, the Schlierachtaler Stamm, for more than 40 years until 2013. He and his wife “have been the backbone of everything,” a member Kathy Fetzer mentioned.
Jerry Hugel had moved from Germany to the U.S. in his younger years, and Marie Hugel was of Austrian descent, she mentioned. They were always very active and responsible with the organization and had passed those traditions on to their children, she said.
The husband had been discovered next to the running vehicle in the garage while the wife was in a kitchen in the basement. The family friend was in the first floor living room while the tenant was on the rented room.
City Councilman Mark Weprin mentioned in an emailed statement, “My thoughts and prayers go out to the friends and households of the victims,” he said.
A friend of the Hugels, Elisabeth Hlawaty, said she had traveled across the country with the couple to dance competitions. “She was quite involved, very household conscious,” Hlawaty stated. “She loved all of her kids.”
