Police investigating the disappearance and death of College freshman John Fiocco Jr. are looking into a lead in the case.
According to Capt. Al Della Fave of the New Jersey State Police, the department received information that a possible game of hide-and-seek may have been happening in Wolfe Hall the night Fiocco disappeared.
Despite the new information, Della Fave said "that tip has not helped much (in the investigation)."
Glenn Zeitz, the Fiocco family's lawyer, passed the tip on to Campus Police after contacting a student at the College with questions about the basement of Wolfe Hall.
Zeitz refused e-mail and telephone requests for an interview.
Matthew Golden, director of Communications and Media Relations, said that police are currently investigating the claim to see if it has any validity.
Part of the investigation, Golden said, was a mass e-mail police asked the College to send to students.
The e-mail, which was forwarded to students on Nov. 15, was sent by "Campus Police . on behalf of the New Jersey State Police." In it, students are asked for any details they may have regarding the alleged hide-and-seek game. Students with information are told to e-mail crimestoppers@tcnj.edu.
Included in the e-mail are questions regarding whether or not a game of hide-and-seek took place in or near the compactor room in Wolfe Hall at "any time prior to March 25."
Fiocco was last seen in a dorm room in Wolfe Hall early on the morning of March 25. After his body was discovered in a Tullytown, Pa., landfill, investigators began searching into his disappearance. Included in the search was an investigation of the trash chute in Wolfe Hall and dumpsters behind it.
Golden said that while the College is willing to take any other appropriate steps to aid the investigation, so far police have only requested that College officials send out the mass e-mail regarding the game of hide-and-seek.
Chris Rindosh, president of TCNJ Manhunt, a club that organizes manhunt games on campus, said that Fiocco never attended games. Rindosh added that Manhunt does not use the interior of buildings as places available to hide in.
Sgt. James Lopez of Campus Police confirmed that Campus Police is assisting in the investigation of the tip, but could not disclose further details about the tip or the student who provided it.
