A car found abandoned early Tuesday morning on a Cape May beach has been connected to the investigation of an 11-year-old boy's death in Montgomery County, police said.
Matthew Whitehead was found dead in his Horsham home on Tuesday morning around 7 a.m., according to the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office. The boy's father, Daniel Whitehead, called 911 after finding his son unresponsive in a bed that he reportedly had shared with his mother, Ruth Dirienzo-Whitehead, the night before.
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Daniel Whitehead told Horsham Police that when he woke up Tuesday morning, he found that the door to the bedroom where his son and wife had been sleeping was locked. He also saw that his wife’s black Toyota Highlander was not in the garage.
While police were still in the Whitehead home, Dirienzo-Whitehead's SUV was found by Cape May Police. The Toyota Highlander was empty and partially submerged in the ocean at Cove Beach, just off Beach Avenue in Cape May.
Dirienzo-Whitehead was found alive a short time later by Wildwood Crest Police.
A video posted to Twitter just before 8 a.m. shows officials using heavy equipment to pull the vehicle from the sand.
Authorities believe the car entered the water around 3:30 a.m., the Press of Atlantic City reported.
Matthew's cause of death has not yet been determined. An autopsy is being performed by the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office. A joint investigation by Montgomery County Detectives and Horsham Police is underway. No charges have been filed.
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