He was among legions of young, professional Hoboken residents who work in financial services, jog on the waterfront to stay in shape, and relax on Saturday night drinking with their friends in one of the mile-square city’s many bars. But Andrew Jarzyk, 27, who lived on Monroe Street, met a different fate last Saturday night than the peers who generally head home, hit the sack, and sleep late the next morning. He left his friends at the West Five Supper Club around 1 a.m., jogged a mile east to the waterfront to continue training for a marathon – and then disappeared into the rainy night.
He sent a text to his girlfriend at 1:43 a.m., appeared on a police surveillance camera jogging at the city’s southernmost waterfront park at 2:09 a.m., and that was the last trace of him as of press time on Friday. According to police, a surveillance video captures him heading onto Pier A Park, which juts far into the Hudson River, but there is no video of him coming back off the pier.
Since Monday morning, frantic family members and friends have passed out missing posters in an effort to find out what happened to Jarzyk, who was described as a responsible, caring person who would not intentionally vanish without letting anyone know. He worked for PNC Financial Services and grew up in the Trenton area.
Jarzyk was last seen at 2:09 a.m. running along the Hoboken waterfront.
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On Friday, Hoboken police Sgt. Anthony Falco said that the search for Jarzyk had reached a “standstill” and that he was satisfied with the search of the Hudson River by Jersey City and NYPD scuba squads and the New Jersey State Police Aviation Unit.
“If any new information comes in or we get any tips, we’re going to look into them, but right now we don’t have much to go on,” said Falco.
The last images of Jarzyk showed him jogging near Pier C Park on the central waterfront, and then down at Pier A Park at the south end of the waterfront, a popular spot for joggers that is a block from the city’s massive train terminal.
Falco said there’s no footage of Jarzyk ever exiting Pier A, despite footage that shows him heading onto the pier. There’s also no indication he went to Hoboken Terminal, he said.
A timeline
On Saturday, Jarzyk was out with friends at the supper club, near on the western border of town (approximately twelve blocks west of the waterfront). His apartment is located approximately two blocks from the club. He returned home around 1 a.m. to change into running clothes, where he was spotted by a neighbor as he took off for a run. One source told The Reporter that he was spotted on the fire escape at one point, possibly having been locked out.
He apparently then ran toward the waterfront, which is 13 blocks east of his street.
Media reports have speculated that Jarzyk was intoxicated, but friends of Jarzyk have disputed those claims, noting that texts sent by Jarzyk that evening were coherent and normal.
Jarzyk’s girlfriend posted on Facebook the next day, “My boyfriend Andrew Jarzyk is missing. He was last seen at 12 by his friends and 1ish by his neighbors. The last text I received from him was at 1:43 am.”
Friends and family tried to call Jarzyk all of Sunday and did not get through. By Monday morning, they had contacted police, and missing posters were up around Hoboken.
Three law enforcement agencies, including the NYPD, began searching the Hudson River for any signs of Jarzyk.
On Wednesday, PIX 11 news aired the grainy surveillance footage of Jarzyk jogging near Pier C Park. However, police have not released footage from Pier A Park.
Jarzyk is described as 6 feet 2 inches tall and 175 pounds with a tall, slender build. He is Caucasian with blonde hair and blue eyes.
Anyone with information on Jarzyk’s disappearance is being asked to contact the Hoboken Police Department detective bureau at (201) 420-2110.
Possible connection?
It’s unclear whether it has any connection to Jarzyk’s disappearance, but a month ago, a man said that he was thrown in the river by three assailants at Pier C Park around the same time of the night when Jarzyk was last seen.
The Wharton, N.J. man was treated for hypothermia and lacerations after emergency service teams dragged him to dry land, according to a police report. The man, who was visiting friends from high school for Hoboken’s day-long pre-St. Patrick’s Day festivities, was found by three passersby just south of Pier C Park around 2 a.m. on Sunday morning, clinging to a metal pylon in the water. He told police that he had left a waterfront bar and was walking north on Sinatra Drive when three men in black approached him and without warning threw him in the river, according to the report.
On Friday, Falco said he doesn’t believe there’s any connection between that case and Jarzyk’s disappearance.
“There’s nobody down on the waterfront throwing people in the river,” he said.
Dean DeChiaro may be reached at deand@hudsonreporter.com