The Queens woman who was discovered inside a trash can at the Plumb Beach parking lot was strangled, according to the New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
The medical examiner ruled the death of 38-year-old Tanaya Cambell Ortiz a homicide around one month after her body was found.
Detectives say the investigation began at around 3 p.m. on Sept. 16 in the parking lot off the Belt Parkway.
Officers discovered Ortiz inside a garbage can, unconscious and unresponsive. Paramedics pronounced her dead at the scene.
A suspect – and any potential motive in the case – were not immediately known.