Mysterious Death of Chemist at NJ Water Plant

[NJCher]

I've been following this story ever since my brother alerted me to it yesterday. A chemist mysteriously ends up in a water tank when there are all kinds of safeguards to prevent such an occurrence. She is found 100 yards from where she was last seen. First they find her sneaker, then a clipboard--then the chemist.

This sort of reminds me of the mysterious deaths of the microbiologists.

Yesterday's story:

Chemist found dead at bottom of water tank

Geetha Angara, a chemist by trade and inclination, had spent more than a decade around the massive Passaic Valley Water Commission storage tanks in Totowa, which she routinely tested for water quality.

That experience has heightened the mystery of how the 43-year-old mother of three ended up dead at the bottom of a tank, her body discovered late Wednesday after she had been missing for a day, authorities said.

<snip>

Today's Story:

http://www.bergen.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk2MCZmZ2JlbDdmN3ZxZWVFRXl5NjY1MjEyNiZ5cmlyeTdmNzE3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTM=

Confusion follows in death of chemist

Who budged a heavy steel grate that covered an opening to a utility's water tank?

<snip>

As police focused on the 43-year-old water tester's last moments, Passaic Valley Water Commission customers in 17 North Jersey towns were affected in the aftermath of Angara's mysterious death.

<snip>

Investigators are treating Angara's death as a possible homicide. They continue to focus on a water testing station above the tank where the senior chemist is believed to have been working Tuesday morning. She was found Wednesday evening after the tank had been drained.

<snip>

Investigators found the grate partially open when they arrived on the scene, but said it was possible that workers or dive teams had moved it. The grate was taken to a crime lab to be checked for fingerprints and other evidence, Passaic County Prosecutor James F. Avigliano said.

"I can tell you this - it's difficult to imagine one person lifting that ," he said. The lack of leads has been frustrating, he said, but detectives have been "working like hell on this because we owe it to the family."

http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk1OCZmZ2JlbDdmN3ZxZWVFRXl5NjY1MjU4MyZ5cmlyeTdmNzE3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTI=

Geetha Angara's picture:

http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050210/NEWS03/502100321/1007


Cher

[whistle]

1. A pattern of purges.....

[lostnfound]

2. No parallel to microbiologists

Those people were specialists; a chemist working at a water facility is there for monitoring, not research.

Could be ordinary murder (i.e., jealous colleague, psycho stranger) or could be something sinister about to happen to water supply, I suppose.

[NJCher]

3. try to abstract

C'mon. You can do it.


Cher