Man found dead in frozen pond

The jagged spot where police smashed through the ice and pulled David Martinez's body from a landscaping pond had refrozen by yesterday morning.

Three bouquets of flowers sat just inches from its shiny surface.

An autopsy confirmed yesterday that Martinez, 26, of Berlin, Camden County, had drowned in the pond outside Taylors Bar & Grill, the popular Cherry Hill nightspot where he had been partying with friends on New Year's Eve.

Police don't suspect foul play, but how Martinez, a recent college graduate and member of the Air National Guard, came to be floating face-up beneath an inch of frozen ice remains a mystery.

Cherry Hill Detective Sgt. Joseph W. Vitarelli Jr. said Martinez had "marks" on his chin and may have struck one of the many metal fountains in the pond when he fell.

"He may have been knocked out," he said. "It's not that deep and there's no evidence that he tried to get out."

Authorities say Martinez, who had rented a room at the nearby Crowne Plaza hotel with friends for New Year's, arrived at the bar about 9 p.m. on New Year's Eve and was last seen leaving about 1 a.m.

His parents reported him missing Thursday afternoon. Police found Martinez in the pond about 9 p.m.

Martinez's mother, Giuseppina, said that her son's friends told her he was kicked out of the bar by bouncers to make room for more customers waiting in line.

"He had no jacket on," she said.

Capt. Joseph Bowen, of the Camden County Prosecutor's Office, confirmed that Martinez had been "removed" from the bar but couldn't say why.

Martinez's blood alcohol content won't be known until toxicology results come back in several weeks, Bowen said.

The pond, on a small lawn a few feet from a Taylors parking lot and Route 70, is not fenced in and is accessible to anyone outside the bar. Water from the pond runs into a waterfall that cascades onto the bar's outside deck.

"Our hearts and prayers go out to the family and friends of this young man," Taylors General Manager Rich Bunt said.

Bunt said he didn't know why Martinez was kicked out of the bar.

Martinez was born in Italy, and grew up in Colorado before moving to South Jersey, his family said.

After graduating from Lenape High School in Burlington County, Martinez got a criminal justice degree at Stockton College, in Atlantic County.

Giuseppina Martinez said her son, who worked as a security guard, had recent job offers from the CIA, FBI, and New Jersey's Department of Corrections.

"He was going to stay close home I think," she said. "He wanted to stay in New Jersey."

Cherry Hill code officials said Taylors was not required to have a fence around the pond but Giuseppina Martinez questioned the bar's judgement for not doing so or at least draining the water in the winter.

"It's right out in the open," she said. "Little kids could walk up to it and fall in. You could walk through the parking lot and fall in. My son fell in."

Anyone with information about the incident can contact the Cherry Hill Police Department at 856-488-7832 or the Camden County Proseuctor's Office at 856-225-8400. *