‘It’s their jurisdiction’

Roughly two months after a Middlesex woman was reported missing and later found dead, the mayor and Borough Council continue to be chided for the handling of the matter.

For the second time since the late Jennifer Panek’s body was located in Haverstick Park on Saturday, Feb. 8, a family friend commented at a council meeting. This time it was at the governing body’s Tuesday, March 25 session.

Panek was reported missing from her Middlesex home the day before her body was found. The Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office has still not closed its probe into Panek’s death. according to Brynn Krause, the MCPO’s public information officer.

The prosecutor’s office’s head of major crimes and the Office of the Middlesex County Medical Examiner are awaiting toxicology results before making a final ruling in the case, Krause told Inside – Middlesex via email on Thursday, March 27.  The unofficial results are death by suicide, she added. 

At last week’s council’s session, Grandview Avenue resident Will Galtieri remarked on the response to the Feb. 7 report that Panek had gone missing. He inferred that more concern had been shown by borough officials for recent issues such as problematic geese and invasive plant species, than searching for Panek in early February. 

Galtieri formerly served on the Franklin Township Council and Sewerage Authority before moving to Middlesex several years ago. He also spoke at the council’s late February meeting.

Mayor Jack Mikolajczyk challenged Galtieri’s assertions. At the council’s Feb. 11 meeting, days after Panek’s death, the mayor opened the proceeding by holding a moment of silence to acknowledge her passing. Panek’s family has said she suffered from postpartum depression after giving birth to a child last August.

“It’s an open and active investigation,” Mikolajczyk told Galtieri at last week’s session. “We’re not going to talk about it. We’re not going to comment about it in any way shape or form until we get a formal report back.”

Information that Panek had gone missing was passed along to the prosecutor’s office as soon as it was received, the mayor said, adding, “It’s under their jurisdiction how to handle it.”

Mikolajczyk also disputed Galtieri’s claim that borough officials did not grieve Panek’s passing.

“Just because I’m not sitting here waving the flag doesn’t mean I didn’t feel (her family’s) pain and doesn’t mean I don’t feel bad for what happened,” the mayor said.

Earlier, Galtieri noted that Panek family supporters had attended a recent Parks Improvement Committee meeting. At that session, it was stated that Department of Public Works employees take about an hour to circuit borough parks to determine if garbage cans need emptying.

If the DPW can assess the trash receptacles in an hour’s time, Galtieri questioned why Panek’s family “was forced to wait hours” before resources were mobilized to find her.

“Why, when the woman’s husband said she most likely went to one of the town parks, couldn’t someone do this circuit that apparently takes only one hour to do?” Galtieri asked.

“Yes, it is correct resources were brought in,” he added. “But they were sent to the wrong area.”

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