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Those fears came true Monday, when the body of 40-year-old Andrew R. Fraioli was found across the street from his parents’ home.
No foul play was suspected, Wyckoff Police Lt. Joseph Soto said Monday afternoon.
Fraioli, who worked as a drug counselor in Camden and had no special needs, came north five weeks ago from his Lindenwold home to help his 74-year-old dad dig out from the then-impending blizzard.
He walked outside around 8 p.m. Jan. 31 amid a storm that would eventually cover some areas of North Jersey in up to two feet of snow.
Fraioli's parents thought their son -- who was wearing a long-sleeved, green shirt, pajama pants, and slippers -- was going to get a soda from the garage.
That was the last time they saw him, they told police.
Police conducted several searches for Fraioli around his parents’ Sunset Boulevard home and beyond.
His car wasn’t moved, although his jacket was found nearby after a brief melt three weeks ago.
They pinged his cellphone to the neighborhood before the battery apparently died. A check of his bank account found it untouched.
To be sure, police also checked the area extending north to the tennis courts, south to the community park and southeast to Rambaut Lake and Goffle Brook.
They rooted around the nearby railroad tracks and inside an abandoned house, as well as in several other areas of town. They alerted neighboring police departments and checked with area hospitals.
They also got aerial help from the New Jersey State Police and even brought in Maywood police's accomplished bloodhound, Remi, who caught scents that didn't lead anywhere.
A neighbor across the street called police shortly after 12:30 p.m. Monday after she spotted part of Fraioli's body sticking outside the snow in a front side yard between two houses, Lt. Joseph Soto said.
It was in an area where either blown or plowed flakes accumulated on top of already-fallen snow, they said.
The Bergen County Medical Examiner took the body to determine the cause of death as part of an investigation by Wyckoff police, the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office and the Bergen County Sheriff's Office, which collected evidence.
Funeral arrangements were expected to follow.
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