{"id":349310,"date":"2026-09-17T14:47:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T14:47:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/349310\/"},"modified":"2026-09-17T14:47:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T14:47:09","slug":"mom-desperate-for-answers-after-sons-rotting-corpse-found-in-chimney-of-queens-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/349310\/","title":{"rendered":"Mom desperate for answers after son’s rotting corpse found in chimney of Queens school"},"content":{"rendered":"

A rotting corpse found stuffed in the chimney of a Queens public school<\/a> has been identified as an aspiring rapper who went missing, to the bafflement of his family, more than seven weeks before the decomposed remains were found.<\/p>\n

It was another month after the gruesome discovery before Matthew Collado<\/a>\u2018s desperate mother learned the body found in the chimney in the school in Glendale in June was her missing son. But that was far from the end to the mystery.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a void in my gut,\u201d Collado\u2019s mother, Sophia Wood, told The News in an exclusive interview. \u201cI walk around in a daze. I still haven\u2019t believed it yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even with her 29-year-old son\u2019s body finally identified, Wood still has no idea how her son died or ended up there. The city Medical Examiner\u2019s office is still studying the case three months later and has not determined a cause or manner of death for Collado, a spokeswoman for the agency confirmed Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe cause of death is undetermined. The date of death is undetermined. The manner of death is undetermined,\u201d Collado\u2019s anguished mother said. \u201cI have no idea how he ended up there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MatthewMatthew Collado was found in a chimney at PS\/IS 113, the Anthony J. Pranzo School, in Queens on June 30. (Courtesy of family)<\/p>\n

Collado was last seen on surveillance video<\/a> leaving his apartment in Jamaica at 3:22 a.m. May 9, according to Wood, who said her son texted her one day earlier saying he would meet her at the nursing home where his grandmother lives two days later to celebrate Mother\u2019s Day. He never showed up.<\/p>\n

She was shocked he would miss Mother\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s an amazing son,\u201d she said. \u201cHe\u2019s mommy\u2019s little boy. He\u2019s always, \u2018Hi mom. I love you mom\u2019 \u2026 He used to go visit my mom all the time in the nursing home.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MatthewMatthew Collado was last seen on Saturday, May 9, 2026, wearing an off-white hoodie and shorts, according to a missing poster.<\/p>\n

About a week after he went missing, he was due to start a new job as a residential aide at a Breaking Ground shelter, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so out of character for my son to be roaming this earth and not be in touch with me or his sister,\u201d she said. \u201cWe talk all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

She grew worried and went to his apartment, where she found the door propped open by the deadbolt.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe left his phone, his wallet,\u201d she said. \u201cThe door was propped open and I was afraid to push it. I was afraid of what I was going to see when I pushed it open.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NYPDNYPD officers and officials investigate a body found in a chimney at PS\/IS 113, Anthony J. Pranzo School, on Tuesday, June 30, 2026, in Queens, New York. (Barry Williams\/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

She filed a missing person report with cops and then took matters into her own hands, handing out fliers and spreading the word online<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were putting up fliers all over Jamaica and anywhere anybody could tell me where they saw him. Nothing panned out,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody that I talk to in his neighborhood, everyone said, \u2018Oh, he\u2019s such a cool guy. I liked this guy. He\u2019s wonderful. He\u2019s so nice. He always has a bright smile.’\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s Mr. Brightside,\u201d she added. \u201cHe always sees the bright side of things. He\u2019ll take a lick and get back up. He\u2019s resilient.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MatthewMatthew Collado was found in a chimney at PS\/IS 113, the Anthony J. Pranzo School, in Queens on June 30. (Courtesy of family)<\/p>\n

Then nearly two months after her son went missing, an exterminator investigating a foul odor at at PS\/IS 113, the Anthony Pranzo School<\/a>, discovered a rotting corpse in a the chimney just before 9 a.m. June 30. The school was closed for the summer and under renovation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were looking for the source of the odor,\u201d Wood said. \u201cThey found a shoe and then they continued reaching up the chimney and felt a foot.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bizarre discovery made headlines and Wood saw them. She immediately contacted cops investigating her son\u2019s disappearance, even though he has no connection she knows of to the school.<\/p>\n

She was initially told the body in the chimney was not believed to be Collado \u2014\u00a0only for police to knock on her door weeks later, Wood said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn July 21, the missing person detective and the homicide detectives came to get my DNA to do a familial test,\u201d Wood said.<\/p>\n

\"AnPolice outside of PS\/IS 113, the Anthony Pranzo School, where remains were found on June 30. (Barry Williams \/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

It was the afternoon of July 29 when the city Medical Examiner\u2019s office contacted Wood saying that dental records proved it was her son who ended up in the Queens chimney, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI told the detective from the missing person\u2019s case, I said, \u2018I asked you if that was my son,\u2019 and all he could do was apologize,\u201d said Wood.\u00a0\u201cIt was me, my daughter and my son. We were the power of three and now we\u2019re missing one. It hurts us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now she\u2019s left with nothing but questions about how her 6-foot son ended up dead inside the chimney.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe cops have nothing. There\u2019s no cameras. There\u2019s no videos. No footage of how he ended up there, how he got into the school,\u201d she said. \u201cThere\u2019s nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NYPDNYPD officers investigate a body found in a chimney at PS\/IS 113, Anthony J. Pranzo School, on June 30 in Queens. (Barry Williams\/ New York Daily News)<\/p>\n

Her son was an aspiring rapper who enjoyed creating beats and performed under the name A.K. Nash. He grew up in East Elmhurst<\/p>\n

\u201cHe worked on his music a lot and he does have some songs on Soundcloud,\u201d Wood said. \u201cThat\u2019s how I hear his voice now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wood now plans to hire a private investigator and says she will not rest until she knows exactly how her son died.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy son was afraid of heights so him climbing up there? That is not my son,\u201d said Wood. \u201cHe hates fire. He hates smoke. A chimney? It doesn\u2019t jive with my son and who he was.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to speculate and I don\u2019t want to point fingers,\u201d she added. \u201cI want facts and accuracy.\u201d<\/p>\n

With Rocco Parascandola<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A rotting corpse found stuffed in the chimney of a Queens public school has been identified as an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":349311,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[262,263,266,85,267,9,24,264,12,63,261,122,124,123,265],"class_list":["post-349310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-city","tag-county","tag-crime-and-public-safety","tag-latest-headlines","tag-local-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-county","tag-news","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-crime","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news","tag-sub-county-region"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349310","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=349310"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349310\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/349311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=349310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=349310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=349310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}