Body Found in the Passaic River Identified as Missing ‘Wall Street Journal’ Reporter David Bird, Missing Since 1/10/14

Morris County, New Jersey Prosecutor Fredric M. Knapp and Long Hill Township Police Chief Michael Mazzeo made the announcement just after 2 p.m. Thursday, March 19 that the body found in the Passaic River was positively identified as a Wall Street Journal reporter, David Bird. On Wednesday two men were canoeing in the river when they came across a red jacket that Bird was wearing when he disappeared located near branches. The two men notified Bernards Township Police Department.  David Bird, 55,  has been missing since January 10, 2014 in Millington, NJ in Long Hill Township.

A body found in a New Jersey river has been positively identified as that of David Bird, a Wall Street Journal reporter who disappeared more than a year ago, officials said yesterday.

Dental records were used to identify Bird, 55, an energy-markets reporter who had been missing since taking a walk from his home by the Passaic River in Long Hill Township, N.J., on Jan. 11, 2014, the Morris County prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

Two men canoeing on the river on Wednesday found the red jacket Bird was wearing when he disappeared. The boaters immediately contacted police, who later found human remains and sought to identify them, the prosecutor said.

“At this time, the medical examiner’s investigation into the cause and manner of death is ongoing,” the prosecutor said.

Wall Street Journal – Body of Missing Journal Reporter Found in New Jersey.

Mr. Bird, who had worked for Dow Jones & Co., publisher of the Journal, for more than two decades, was instrumental in the expansion of energy markets reporting in the 1990s, leading its coverage of OPEC and energy markets and building a team regarded as among the best in business. He eventually became the deputy managing editor of the Dow Jones Energy Service.

“David Bird was a long-standing and valued member of the Dow Jones newsroom, and we are deeply saddened to learn today of his death,” said Gerard Baker, editor in chief of the Journal. “Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends.”