Friend says Conshohocken woman may have 'slipped and fell' into Sea Isle bay

Cape May County authorities are awaiting toxicology results to determine how a Conshohocken woman died during a festive winter weekend in Sea Isle City.

Tracy Elizabeth Hottenstein, 35, a senior sales specialist with the Toyko-based drug company Daiichi Sankyo Inc., was found floating in a bay near the Sea Isle City Marina by a passer-by about 8 a.m. Sunday, authorities said.

An autopsy was completed Monday by the Southern Regional Medical Examiner's Office, but the Cape May County Prosecutor's Office said in a release yesterday that the "cause and manner [of her death] are pending toxicology analysis and will be released at a future date."

Hottenstein, who had told others that she previously worked for Bristol-Myers Squibb, reportedly was in Sea Isle City for the Polar Bear Plunge, an annual event that brings thousands, many in elaborate costumes, to the resort town to charge into the chilly Atlantic Ocean and pack the city's bars.

Hottenstein was last seen Saturday night in a Sea Isle City bar, but one person who knew her said yesterday that the vibrant and athletic career woman was not one to overindulge.

"She was not that kind of person at all," said Peggy O'Neill, who rented Hottenstein a small, brick rowhouse on Hallowell Street before she moved to another Conshohocken apartment nearby. "I think it was an accident. I think she may have slipped and fell in."

Hottenstein, O'Neill said, had always wanted to live in Conshohocken "to be closer to her family" after working in the Harrisburg area.

"She was so happy in our little house back there. She always kept in touch," O'Neill added.

Hottenstein, an avid runner who competed in 5k races at the Jersey shore and in Philadelphia, would bring O'Neill Christmas presents and even wrote a tender note when she decided to move.

"Thank you for making me feel at home as your tenant," Hottenstein wrote O'Neill in October 2003.

O'Neill said she remembered Hottenstein, a University of Delaware graduate, visiting Sea Isle City regularly, sometimes renting a summer home there with friends.

"She had so many friends," O'Neill added.

Wanting to stay in Conshohocken, Hottenstein moved just a few blocks away to a neat, stucco home on East 10th Avenue. A woman who answered the door there yesterday declined to comment, as did several neighbors. Several of Hottenstein's relatives also declined to comment when reached yesterday.

A spokeswoman for Daiichi Sankyo, which has operations in New Jersey, did not elaborate on Hottenstein's duties there but said the company's "thoughts and prayers go out to her family."

Cape May County authorities said the probe into Hottenstein's death is continuing and they are urging anyone with information to call 609-465-1133 or 609-263-4311.