UPPER EAST SIDE — A 15-year-old boy found Tuesday night dead in his bedroom, taped inside of his sleeping bag under a flipped-over air mattress was believed to have committed suicide, the teen's mother said detectives told her.
Atsumi Taniguchi, discovered her son, Takashi Taniguchi, who had been home alone in their East 85th Street apartment for the snow day, unconscious and unresponsive when she came home from work, she said.
"The detectives think it might be suicide," the mom said, adding that she wasn't aware of any problems with her son, who attended the School of the Future.
An NYPD spokesman said investigators are waiting for autopsy results before making a determination of cause of death. There were no immediate arrests, police said.
The mother said that she didn't suspect anything when she got home at 7:23 p.m.
"His room was closed and there was no light coming from inside so I thought he was sleeping," Taniguchi said. "I tried to wake him up and knocked on the door, but it was locked from the inside," she added.
The lunch money she had left for him was gone and there were wrappers from Shake Shack, a favorite fast-food joint of Takashi's in the apartment, she said.
When she got the door open she discovered his mattress flipped over and him underneath in his sleeping bag unconscious.
The stunned mom wasn't aware of any problems with her son. She said he told her he was happy after they moved into the two-bedroom East 85th Street home from their old cramped one-bedroom, she said.
"He started researching the [furniture] he wants to get," Taniguchi said. "He told me that he's happy with the apartment."
Takashi liked studying math and science, one day hoping to parlay that into a career as a programmer, his mom said.
He enjoyed playing Minecraft and other computer games with friends when he wasn't out exploring the city, visiting the library with friends or Tompkins and Washington Square parks, she said.
Friends at his school said Takashi was "very energetic" and "a nice guy" devoted to his studies.
On Wednesday morning, Takashi's mom was left grieving and looking for answers.
"I only know the fact that he's not here anymore and nothing else," Taniguchi said.
