Body Found In Frankford Dumpster Indentified

By Joseph P. Blake, Daily News Staff Writer
Posted: December 22, 1988

An autopsy will be conducted by the medical examiner's office to determine the cause of death of a woman found yesterday inside a dumpster at the Whitehall Apartments housing project in Frankford.

The woman, identified last night by relatives as Vivian Buxton, 29, of Briggs Street near Tackawanna, had no visible signs of injury, police said. She lived less than a mile from the project.

"I recognize her, but I don't know her name," Tottie Daniels, a resident of the project, said a short time after the body was found. "I see her walking through here sometimes, but I don't know her name."

Sanitation workers found the body about 9 a.m. They had just emptied two other dumpsters and were about to tackle a third when one of the workers noticed the body inside.

"It was partially covered with cardboard," said Stanley Merriman. "I called out (to the other two workers) there was a body in there, and at first they thought I was kidding."

The body was fully clothed, police said. Both the dumpster and the body were trucked to the medical examiner's office.

One of the sanitation workers, who asked not to be identified, said it was not all that unusual to discover bodies in dumpsters or with other trash.

"I've run across about five in the last six years," said the man. "You'd be surprised at the kinds of things we run across."

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