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Missing Bronx Librarian Found Dead in Bronx River

By Eddie Small | April 14, 2016 11:24am
 The search for missing librarian Javier Horta ended sadly on Wednesday, when he was found dead in Starlight Park, police said.
The search for missing librarian Javier Horta ended sadly on Wednesday, when he was found dead in Starlight Park, police said.
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Horta Family

SOUNDVIEW — A beloved Bronx librarian was found dead Wednesday morning, floating in the Bronx River near Starlight Park roughly three weeks after he had gone missing, police said.

Javier Horta, 34, was last seen leaving 1420 Noble Ave. on March 25, when he went to hail a cab with a friend before realizing he did not have his wallet and cellphone and turning back, according to the NYPD and Javier's brother, Hector Horta.

Although Javier's friends and family had banded together to search for him, that search came to a tragic end when officers found him unconscious and unresponsive in the Bronx River by the canoe launch site at Starlight Park around 11 a.m. on Wednesday, just a few blocks from where he was last seen, police said.

EMS pronounced him dead at the scene, and the investigation into his case is ongoing, according to the NYPD.

The Medical Examiner's office will determine the cause of Javier's death. Their office did not respond to a request for comment.

Javier had worked at the library's Jerome Park branch, and Hector had started a GoFundMe page to raise money to hire a private investigator to find his brother, which had raised just over $12,000 of its $20,000 goal as of Thursday.

Hector did not return a phone call seeking comment.

Javier had worked at the New York Public Library for more than 12 years as an information assistant, and his father and brother are employed by the NYPL as well.

"The entire library community is heartbroken. Javier was a beloved colleague, who truly made a difference in his years of library service," NYPL President Tony Marx said in a statement. "We are sending our deepest condolences and all measures of strength to the Horta family."