Body Found in Syracuse, NY, Building by Demolition Crew
By Rylee Kirk
Source syracuse.com (TNS)
Editor’s note: Update with information from the Syracuse Police Department.
Syracuse, N.Y. — A body of a woman was found in a vacant Syracuse apartment building Wednesday.
Around 12:03 p.m., a 911 caller reported a demolition crew arrived at 153 Seymour St. and found the body, according to dispatches from the Onondaga County 911 Center.
Officers arrived and told dispatchers there was a body on scene and that it had “been there a while,” according to dispatches.
Syracuse police Wednesday night said the body was a woman who has not been identified. The body was badly decomposed, said Kieran Coffey, a police spokesperson.
A Syracuse police crime scene van, several police cars and a truck belonging to a contractor company were parked outside the building shortly after the call.
Police asked anyone with information about the woman to contact them at 315-442-5222.
The city of Syracuse took the owner of the vacant five-story apartment building at 153-157 Seymour St to court in November to get permission to demolish it. A judge granted the city’s request. The owner will be billed the cost, along with a 15% surcharge and 9% interest.
The building caught fire on Oct. 17 and it took the Syracuse Fire Department all day to extinguish. A fire broke out in the same building on May 3, 2023, and four Syracuse firefighters were injured trying to put it out.
The building, which has 40 apartment units and has been known as Peace Manor Apartments, has been vacant since at least December 2021, when the city declared it unfit for occupancy. The code enforcement office has issued more than 90 violation citations over the past five years.
Seymour Luxury Residence of Brooklyn purchased the empty building in March 2023 for $2.8 million, according to a deed filed with the Onondaga County Clerk’s Office. At the same time, it purchased another apartment building at 139-43 Seymour St. for $1.5 million.
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