NEW CUMBERLAND -- Hancock County investigators have released the name of a New York City man whose body was found dumped in a wooded area near Mountaineer Casino last September.
According to county Sheriff Scott Gittings, he remains optimistic his deputies are close to finding the person responsible for the death of Matthew Mendelson. Mendelson, 33, was found with a key for his rental car, a 2020 Range Rover, in his pocket hours after Columbiana County sheriff's deputies were dispatched to Madison Township to investigate a fire involving the missing vehicle.
Days later, a West Virginia coroner would rule that Mendelson died from a gunshot to the head, and the public was left without knowing the man's identity or the results of toxicology tests done during the autopsy. Gittings said Friday afternoon that although no suspects have been publicly named, they are investigating a few possible persons of interest. While Mendelson is not a familiar name in area circles, he has been for at least the last 15 years in New York City. Back then, Mendelson, then 19, was convicted of a felony and received and had his conviction sealed and did no jail time.
Mendelson, whose father was a retail broker for clients like the Trump Organization and Amtrak, and some friends had sold an undercover detective 200 doses of Ecstasy, a half-ounce of cocaine and the poorly executed counterfeit driver's license out of a luxury East Side apartment, according to both the New York Post and New York Times.
Gittings told another media outlet that he doesn't believe the public is in any danger, as deputies continue to investigate. He reinforced the importance of the police not rushing an arrest to make sure they convict the right person.
(Ujhelyi can be contacted at sujhelyi@reviewonline.com)