New search for evidence in death of S. Jersey woman

GLOUCESTER TOWNSHIP Police on Monday searched for new clues in the death of Carol Reiff, 59, combing through a wooded area where her body was found nine months ago.

Authorities are investigating her death as if it were a homicide but have not officially declared it one. Part of that stems from a lack of evidence.

"That's part of the frustration," Camden County Prosecutor Warren Faulk said, standing Monday about 30 feet from where Reiff's body was found. "Over a period of time, we have gained some additional information, but not enough" to call the death a homicide.

Gloucester Township Police Chief Harry Earle said 32 officers handed out fliers Monday and searched the woods next to the Lakeview Apartments on Lower Landing Road. Reiff lived at the complex. She was found in the woods June 24.

She last spoke to family members by telephone June 20 and had plans to travel the next day to Manahawkin, Ocean County.

Authorities would not say whether they found any clues in the wooded area Monday, citing an ongoing investigation. But Earle said he hoped officers could find evidence, given that the brush in the woods isn't as thick as it was in June.

"There's always something somewhere," he said.

A $20,000 reward has been posted for tips that lead to the arrest and conviction of a suspect.

Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Chuck Farrell of the Camden County Prosecutor's Office at 856-225-8500, or Gloucester Township Police Detective Bill Westphal at 856-228-4500.