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Queens Man Killed in a Hit-and-Run, Body Dumped Later, Cops Say

By Jess Wisloski | August 4, 2013 2:41pm
Police Hunting VW Suspected in Hit and Run
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NYPD

EAST NEW YORK — The hit-and-run death and then dumping of a Brooklyn man's body had his family in pieces and wondering what had lead up to his strange end on a Queens roadway, according to reports and police.

Jose Padilla-Argueta, 35, was found dead in the street at Lansing Avenue and 230th Place on Thursday morning in Springfield Gardens, apparently from a hit-and-run accident, police reported, having suffered multiple injuries and with heavy bleeding.

But further investigation revealed that he was struck by a car at another location, and hauled to the street that borders Rosedale in eastern Queens, police said.

And the family of the Honduran immigrant, who moved to New York just four months ago, told the NY Daily News that they feared Padilla-Argueta had been lured to his death by a romantic encounter online, since they found him with all traces of his identity — phone, shoes, ID — removed.

“Something very bad happened,” his niece Tiffany Martinez, 19, told the News. “His body was all messed up."

The victim, who worked at JFK Airport, left behind three kids in Honduras, his relatives also told the paper.

Police said they believed Padilla-Argueta's body was most likely removed by a hit-and-run driver who didn't want to get caught.

Footage from surveillance cameras grabbed shots of a light-colored Volkswagen GTI headed eastbound on Lansing Avenue to South Conduit, with serious damage to the passenger's side front bumper, a headlight, partial roof damage, and a caved in windshield, cops said.

The vehicle was seen headed east on Sunrise Highway, police said, and urge anyone with any information to contact CrimeStoppers at 800-577-TIPS (8477) or submit tips to www.nypdcrimestoppers.com.