Parents of student who died in landfill file lawsuit

Yesterday, nearly two years after the remains of a College of New Jersey freshman were found in a Bucks County landfill, his parents filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the school, the state, and unnamed companies that manufactured and operated the campus trash compactor.

John Fiocco Jr., 19, of Sewell, was last seen alive around 3 a.m. on March 25, 2006, sleeping in a dorm room after returning from an off-campus party. State police found his blood in a trash bin outside the dormitory, then spent a month searching the Tullytown Landfill before finding his mangled body there.

His parents, Susan and John Fiocco Sr., also of Sewell, accuse the college of failing to protect their son, who graduated from Clearview Regional High School with honors and who was majoring in graphic design. They allege that campus police delayed the investigation into their son's disappearance and initially rebuffed state police offers to assist.

The suit also faults security at the Wolfe Hall dormitory and calls an unlocked trash compactor room and trash bin safety breaches.

State police thought Fiocco might have fallen into a trash chute in the high-rise dorm, but they could find no clear evidence to support that theory.

After contacting more than 1,000 students and searching the building with police dogs, investigators still don't know whether the death was the result of foul play or an accident.

"Not knowing how John died has made his passing even more painful. We miss John's presence on our campus and will continue to support law enforcement's investigation of this terrible tragedy," said Matthew Golden, spokesman for the College of New Jersey.

Golden disputed allegations that campus police were slow to respond.

"The state police were engaged in the investigation very early on," he said. Golden would not comment on specifics of the Fioccos' lawsuit, saying that he had not yet seen it.

The 24-page suit, filed in state Superior Court in Woodbury, seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

"John was an extraordinary young man and had a bright future. Based upon our investigation, we believe his death was a senseless tragedy which could have and should have been prevented," said Christine O'Hearn, lead attorney in the case.

Fiocco's parents did not return calls for comment.

After Fiocco's disappearance, friends told police that he had gotten drunk at an off-campus party and fallen asleep in a friend's room in his dorm shortly before 3 a.m. They first noticed Fiocco missing when they returned to the room around 10 a.m.

According to the complaint, one or more students contacted campus police and school staff that day, a Saturday, and reported Fiocco missing. But they were told that "no action could be taken until 24 hours had elapsed," according to the complaint.

After waiting 24 hours, the friends contacted campus police again, around 3:10 a.m. Sunday, and put Fiocco's father on the phone. But the officers told Fiocco's father they couldn't initiate a probe until he signed a certain document, the suit says.

When the probe finally began later Sunday morning, state police called to offer help but were turned down multiple times, the complaint says.

State police were called in on Monday, and they discovered Fiocco's blood around and inside the trash bin. But they were too late: The young man's body had already gone to a local transfer station, where it was further compacted and sent to the landfill.