In early Dec. 2023, 23-year-old Jaclyn Elmquist was found dead at the bottom of a garbage chute in a New York condo building where she didn’t live. As a Reddit post pointed out, since 2018, three women, including Elmquist, have been found dead in New York under similar circumstances — is there a connection?

As well as Elmquist, the two other women whose bodies were found underneath New York garbage chutes were named Lara Prychodko and Lisa Hernandez. Both deaths were ruled accidental. Meanwhile, outside of New York, a 24-year-old Australian woman, Phoebe Handsjuk, was found dead underneath a garbage chute in Melbourne. Authorities said Handsjuk’s death was an accident. Handsjuk’s family, however, disagreed, according to Daily Mail.

Though there’s no known connection between any of the three women found dead in a similar manner in New York, here’s a closer look at each case.

Jaclyn Elmquist

According to The Guardian, Jaclyn Elmquist went missing in Dec. 2023 after celebrating with work friends in Manhattan. Her coworkers said she was in a taxi at about 11:30 pm that night. Surveillance footage showed Elmquist, who was seemingly intoxicated, about four blocks from where she was later found dead. Her phone data also placed her in that location, but her phone died. In the footage, Elmquist can be seen on the sidewalk, trying to open doors, according to NBC New York.

It’s unknown how Elmquist got into the secured building and past the doorman where her body was discovered, and as of this report, her exact cause of death had not yet been determined. Some surmise Elmquist was intoxicated and somehow got in the building before falling down the chute accidentally. However, the possibility remains that she was pushed. As a Reddit comment states, Elmquist lived in Brooklyn but died in Manhattan, and the building where she was found was in the opposite direction from her home.

Lisa Hernandez

Two years before Jaclyn Elmquist died, 34-year-old Staten Island resident Lisa Hernandez was found stuck inside a garbage chute in her apartment building and later died. She reportedly had alcohol and cocaine in her system, according to SILive. There were no signs of foul play at the scene. Notably, though, Hernandez lived on the fourth floor of the building. She was found in the third-floor chute, with no clear indication of how she got there. Hernandez’s purse was found nearby.

What’s more, the chute had a heavy door, which building residents said was difficult to open even in normal circumstances. Hernandez had no signs of trauma beyond what may have happened while she was trapped, or while emergency first responders were trying to retrieve her from the chute. Referring to the Hernandez case, however, one Reddit comment said, “[Hernandez] was found feet first, hanging out of a garbage chute on not her floor, no mention or statement from the man who lived with her.”

Lara Prychodko

In 2018, 48-year-old Lara Prychadko was also found dead at the bottom of a garbage chute in a Manhattan building where she lived. Authorities found no signs of foul play at the scene, but exactly how she died was undetermined. Her blood alcohol content indicated she may have been intoxicated. Meanwhile, Prychadko was in the midst of a bitter divorce when she died, and according to Prychadko’s father, Nicholas Prychadko, she may have been murdered.

The condition of Prychadko’s clothing, however, suggested there had been a struggle, NBC News reported. One of Lara’s neighbors also reported hearing a disturbance in the building’s hallway around the same time it’s thought she died. In 2023, Nicholas brought a wrongful death civil suit against Lara’s ex-husband, David Schlachet, alleging that Schlachet and an unnamed hitman conspired to kill his daughter and then dispose of her body down the chute.

Are the cases connected?

While all three examples of women in New York who were found dead in or under garbage chutes are tragic, there’s no clear indication any of the cases are connected based on public information. If law enforcement knows more, that link has not yet been revealed. Although suspicious, one Reddit comment provided a possible explanation of why more women seem to die in this manner in New York than in other areas: A larger population and more buildings with garbage chutes compared to other cities.

Still, another comment added, referring to Elmquist, who was likely under the influence when she died, “Anyone on this sub ever entered a random building then either climbed the stairs or taken the elevator up and then then ran to a random door in that random hallway in order to puke and then pulled open a trash compactor but accidentally fallen in? All bc you had one too many at a holiday party? No? Me neither.”

So, in some minds, at least, important questions remain unanswered.

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