NJ NJ - Geetha Angara, 43, Totowa, 8 Feb 2005

This brings to mind a missing womans disappearance that Anne Rule just included in her latest paperback. The woman was an engineer and thus far, her whereabouts are unknown. I hope this case will be resolved much more quickly.
 
Missing N.J. Chemist Found Dead In Water Tank
Protective Grate Found Pulled Away From Tank

UPDATED: 11:05 am EST February 10, 2005

TOTOWA, N.J. -- The body of a woman who disappeared while working at water treatment plant was found inside a tank there Wednesday night, but authorities have not determined whether she was a victim of foul play or died accidentally.

Geetha Angara, 43, of Holmdel, was last seen Tuesday night doing water quality tests at the Passaic Valley Water Commission plant in Totowa.

Searchers then spent several hours looking for Angara. Her body was found about 100 feet from where she had been seen working.

Passaic County Prosecutor Thomas Avigliano said the case was being investigated as a homicide, largely because a protective grate over the tank made it appear unlikely she could have fallen in.

Investigators did find that a section of the grate had been pulled away, creating enough space for a person to fall through. However, it was unclear whether the grate had been moved by police and dive teams who were the first to respond to the scene Tuesday night or had been pulled away before Angara fell in.

An autopsy will be conducted to determine whether there is evidence of trauma on the body, authorities said.

Angara's car and belongings were found where they were left Tuesday on the grounds of the plant.

A senior chemist with a doctorate from New York University and the mother of three, she had worked at the plant for nearly 12 years.

To aid the search, officials drained millions of gallons of water from the 30-foot-deep tanks at the plant, which processes 75 million gallons of drinking water each day.

The water commission's 800,000 customers did not have their service interrupted. Water was provided from alternate sources while the search was conducted.

While tests showed no signs of contamination, customers were being advised to boil their water for three minutes before cooking or drinking as a precaution.

© 2005 by WNBC.com The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 
But six months into the investigation of a most unusual murder, Avigliano's confidence is flagging. If the killing of Geetha Angara isn't a perfect crime, it's shaping up to be awfully close.

"I'm not going to gild the lily. We're still where we were at the start," Avigliano said in a recent interview. "It's a tough, frustrating case."

It's a frustrating turn of events in a case that, at the outset, appeared solvable.

The plant, which provides drinking water for 800,000 people in 17 northern New Jersey communities, is ringed by a 10-foot fence. Cameras cover the main gate and part of the perimeter.

Investigators quickly suspected only a co-worker could have killed Angara, limiting the pool of suspects. But progress has proved elusive since.

The underground tank from which the woman's body was retrieved contains water treated with chlorine, a disinfecting agent that over time destroys fingerprints and DNA evidence.

If such evidence existed, it was gone by the time divers found Angara, more than 24 hours after her killer placed her there.

The hunt for a motive, a key element in solving any crime, continues. Avigliano said detectives have found nothing to contradict early characterizations of Angara as a professional, well-liked employee. She had no reported run-ins with colleagues, no illicit relationships.

"There's nothing that shows animosity between her and the people there," the prosecutor said. "It appears to be a random act."

Investigators are now exploring another long shot, but one the prosecutor said makes sense given Angara's role in ensuring water quality. Avigliano said his office was in the process of asking the federal Environmental Protection Agency to review the facility's water records to search for signs of tampering.

While Avigliano has not disclosed precisely how Angara was rendered unconscious, he said her body showed no signs she had been battered or struck. No weapon was used. Asked if Angara had been choked, the prosecutor declined comment.

Rao said her sister had no problems at the water commission, and she finds it chilling that Angara's killer, as authorities suspect, continues to work there.

"It's very, very troubling to me that someone who could do this would continue to go to work every day, with access to drinking water for so many people," Rao said. "I wouldn't want to drink that water. If you could kill somebody, what else could you do?"
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1123479474156930.xml&coll=1&thispage=3
 
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2015/02/death_in_the_water_tank_nightmarish_case_remains_u.html

It was ink-black in the vast underground water tank. And biting cold. The only escape, a panel in the ceiling, loomed 5 feet above the water level, far too high to reach. Worse, there was no ladder. In that frigid subterranean cavern at the Passaic Valley Water Commission in Totowa, Geetha Angara — scientist, wife and mother of three — met her horrible death 10 years ago today...

It was Angara's job to ensure the water was clean and safe, and she took it seriously, former co-workers and family members said. In 2004, she was promoted to the position of senior chemist, charged with overseeing the plant's transformation into a cutting-edge facility that would eventually dispense with chlorine treatments in favor of an ozone disinfection system. "It was a very exciting time for her," said her husband, Jaya, a banker...

Despite her personal satisfaction, Geetha Angara told her husband some employees in the facility were resentful of her promotion and disagreed with the decision to switch to the ozone cleansing process. In the weeks before his wife's death, Jaya Angara said, another employee blamed her when a pinkish material — seemingly associated with the ozone system — was discovered in treated water.

"My wife told me the atmosphere was very hostile at the time," he said. "There was friction."
 

Members online

Online statistics

Members online
180
Guests online
1,624
Total visitors
1,804

Forum statistics

Threads
589,984
Messages
17,928,691
Members
228,033
Latest member
okaydandy
Back
Top