A body discovered by archaeologists Tuesday morning in the Whippany River, behind a Morris Township office building, has been identified as Joseph Pyne, a 47-year-old Morristown man whose family had not seen him since Oct. 26, 2019.
It marked a sad end to a life colored by tragedy at a tender age.
“Our thoughts are with the family at this difficult time,” said Michael Corcoran Jr., Morristown’s public safety director.
The Morris County Medical Examiner will determine the cause of death. The county Prosecutor’s Office is investigating. Foul play is not suspected at this point, Corcoran said. Anyone with information should call Morristown police at 973-538-2200.
Pyne was discovered around 9 am, behind an office building on Lindsley Drive, in the river near the Patriots’ Path trail. Archaeologists doing a historical dig came upon the body. It appeared to have been there for some time, said his sister, Tara Bartz of Warren County.
The archaeologists were exploring the old Jacob Ford Jr. powder mill behind Acorn Hall for the Morris County Historical Society.
Pyne never got over the hit-and-run death of his dad, Tara said.
“Joe was the one who discovered my father in the road.”
The boy was just 10.
His father had been crossing Hanover Avenue on a rainy Friday night in November 1982, heading to the Acme supermarket to fetch something for his wife. Three cars hit him. The initial driver never was found. The father died five days later.
“After that, he struggled his whole life,” Tara said of her kid brother.
Pyne graduated from Morristown High School in 1991, and worked in construction and did odd jobs. But alcohol dogged him.
He was badly shaken in January, when his 73-year-old mother died of a heart attack. Pyne spent nearly five months in rehab, trying to get himself together.
“When he came out, he couldn’t get over his grief,” Tara said.
Her brother had no permanent address, but was seen frequently around town. When he vanished, she feared the worst.
“I’ve kind of known, since he’s been missing,” she said Tuesday, choking back tears. “It was not like him. He’s very well known. He had a big heart, a heart of gold. He had his demons, but he would do anything for you. He just couldn’t do it for himself.”
Dozens of family and friends gathered earlier this month to search behind Morristown’s Bethel AME Church on Spring Street, the last place where he was seen. His family had offered a $1,000 reward for clues to his whereabouts.
Although this was not the ending everyone wished for, Tara said she felt closure.
“It was torture not knowing where he was,” she said. “There is a sense of relief that we found him, and he’s at peace with my mom and dad. It’s just very sad it happened this way.”
Plans are pending for a memorial service in early December.
Joseph Pyne is survived by his sister, Tara Pyne Bartz and her husband Tom, of Washington Township; and by a brother, Sean, of Morristown; and by nephews John and Michael Bartz and niece Sarah Bartz; and by uncles Roland Lucid and Stephen Lucid (Jody), of Morristown; and an uncle, Robert Lucid (Mary), of New Providence.
