Authorities head to Polar Bear Plunge this weekend in hopes of finding new leads in Sea Isle death

As the one-year anniversary of Tracy Hottenstein's death approaches, investigators, family and friends are converging on Sea Isle City this weekend for the 16th annual Polar Bear Plunge. They're hoping that someone in the crowd of thousands was there for last year's plunge and can recall seeing the 35-year-old pharmaceutical-sales representative leave the Ocean Drive bar at 2:15 a.m. on Feb. 15.

The Conshohocken woman, whose body was found hours later at a dark and empty marina a few blocks away, will be a familiar face and name in the resort town this weekend. Family and friends said they would be distributing fliers showing her in the pink hat and scarf she was wearing at the time of her death.

Teams of detectives from the Cape May County Prosecutor's Office and Sea Isle City Police will be in and around the city's bars "attempting to locate anyone that may have information about Ms. Hottenstein's death," a news release stated.

There will also be a command vehicle at John F. Kennedy Boulevard and Landis Avenue for anyone who wants to provide any information.

Hottenstein's parents said a banner plane will fly over the plunge tomorrow and a banner will be posted on the bridge into Sea Isle City. Tracy's mother, Betty Hottenstein, said she's not certain whether she and her husband will be able to go to Sea Isle City because her father-in-law died unexpectedly yesterday morning.

"It's a really bad time for us," she said. "There will be people there, though, for us."

The prosecutor's office never deemed Hottenstein's death suspicious or named anyone a suspect but do not know how she wound up at the marina or if she had been alone there.

The Southern Regional Medical Examiner's Office ruled her death accidental as a result of hypothermia and acute intoxication. She had also suffered three broken ribs along with bruises and scrapes along her arms and legs.