MANHATTAN, N.Y. (PIX11) — A bottle collector found a badly decomposed body in a Manhattan alleyway on Thursday, according to police and sources.

The skeletal remains were found outside a residential building at 81 Wadsworth Terrace near Fort Tryon Park at around 11:42 a.m., according to the NYPD.

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Sources said a person collecting bottles made the grisly discovery. The body was badly composed, and investigators were unable to determine the gender, according to sources.

The medical examiner will determine the cause of death.

Earlier this month, skeletal remains were found in a storage unit near a Queens expressway, police said.

The decomposed body was found in a makeshift bed in the storage unit under an overpass by the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and Northern Boulevard Exit in Jackson Heights at around 11:09 a.m. on April 7, police and sources said.

The person appeared to live in the storage area that belongs to the Department of Transportation, sources said. It was unclear if a DOT worker found the remains.

The body was so badly decomposed and appeared to have been there a while before it was discovered, making it hard for investigators to identify the person, sources said.

Submit tips to police by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), visiting crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, downloading the NYPD Crime Stoppers mobile app, or texting 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577. Spanish-speaking callers are asked to dial 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).

Mira Wassef is an award-winning reporter who has covered news and sports in the NYC area for more than a decade. She joined the PIX11 News digital team in 2022. See more of her work here.

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