Parsippany, NJ – Police say a 24-year-old Vernon man died accidentally in his car, poisoned by the carbon monoxide from a propane camping lantern he’d left on.
On Sunday, officers responded to the WaWa gas station on New Road for a report by Vernon police of a missing person thought to be in the area, police said. Patrol Officer Robert Appel located the man’s vehicle in the WaWa parking lot, and saw the man inside, covered in blankets, police said.
After several unsuccessful attempts to wake the man, Appel smashed the rear window, and found the man appeared to have died, police said.
The Parsippany-Troy Hills Volunteer Ambulance personnel responded along with paramedics, police said. Parsippany Detective Edward Conklin, the Morris County Sheriff’s Office’s Criminal Investigative Division and the Morris County medical examiner all arrived on scene for investigation, police said.
They found no signs of suspicious acivity and determined the death was accidental, police said.
Police did not release the man’s name.