Blog Post

Family of Student File Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against College


March 06, 2008
Topic: Wrongful Death

The family of a student, who went missing at the College of New Jersey, and whose remains were later found at a landfill, have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the school, the state and the companies that operated and manufactured the school's trash compactor.

According to the Philadelphia Enquirer, 19-year-old John Fiocco was majoring in graphic design after having graduated with honors from Clearview Regional High School. He was last seen alive on March 3, 2006, sleeping in his dorm room in the Ewing campus. He had just returned from a party.

In the days following his disappearance, investigators found his blood stains near a garbage bin outside his dorm room. Almost a month later his mangled remains were found at the Tullytown Landfill. He is believed to have been killed by the trash compactor systems of the college.

His parents, John Fiocco Sr., and Susan Fiocco, allege that the school failed to protect their son. They also claim in the lawsuit that college authorities delayed proper investigation into his disappearance, and refused assistance from state authorities. The suit lists at least 25 instances where the college's security was found to be lax, including the security at John's dorm room and the trash compactor rooms.

John's disappearance baffled investigators for days, who struggled to piece together how a young man's body ended up at a landfill. They initially surmised that he must have fallen down a trash chute, but that theory was later debunked when no signs of blood were found in the chute. They also looked into the possibility of whether he could have entered the trash compactor room from the bin or from outside, but their investigation proved inconclusive again.

It's easy to understand the Fiocco's frustration and anger at his tragedy. They have no way of knowing how their boy died, or what he did in his final moments. When he first disappeared his friends reported his absence to the college authorities, but were told no action could be taken until at least 24 hours later. Then, 24 hours later, when John's father was contacted by his friends, he got in touch with authorities who told him that they could look in to the matter only if he signed some papers. It was the weekend.

On Monday, the state police offered to help with the investigations, but were turned down by the college. When the state police finally came in, they found John's bloodstains around the bin - the first sign of what might have happened to the young man. But by then it was too late, John's body had been transferred to another station, and further compacted before being sent it to the landfill.

There was clearly a lax attitude on the part of the college here. We don't expect schools to be hovering over our kids every second of the day when we send them away from home, but we do expect them to take it seriously when our children go missing from campus. The delays that the college made cost John not only his life, but also cost his family the knowledge of what happened to him.

At the very least, his family deserved to know how he died so they can have some kind of closure. Sadly, thanks to the college's tardiness, closure is something they'll probably never have.

If you have lost a family member due to a horrible yet preventable event, you need the help of an experienced California personal injury lawyer. Contact an attorney at The Reeves Law Group for a free consultation.


The California personal injury attorneys at The Reeves Law Group represent victims of accidents, injuries and wrongful death throughout California from our offices in Los Angeles County, Orange County, San Diego County, Riverside County, San Bernardino County, Ventura County, Fresno County, Kern County, Sacramento County, San Fernando Valley, Long Beach, Antelope Valley, Torrance, Glendale, Bakersfield, Santa Ana, San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland, Ontario, and Victorville.