Peekskill Police Identify Body Found in Hudson

The body pulled from the Hudson River in Peekskill Sunday has been identified as Michael Varella, a 53-year-old Cortlandt Manor man police were seeking in connection with a recent larceny and subsequent pursuit.

Peekskill Police Chief Eric Johansen announced the news during a press conference Monday afternoon [see attached video].

The Westchester County medical examiner performed an autopsy on the body Monday, and Varella's death was ruled an "accidental drowning."

A passenger on a passing Metro-North Train spotted the body at about 8:45 Sunday morning. Peekskill Police responded, as did members of the Westchester County Police Marine Unit. The latter recovered Varella's body.

Police confirmed that Varella was the lone suspect in Friday's incident. Here is the description of events officials provided Monday:

• At 12:50 a.m. Friday, on routine patrol, Officer Fabian Gonzalez heard sounds consistent with vehicular glass being broken in a parking lot on Central Avenue. Officer Gonzalez responded to the lot and saw a while male, who we later identified as Michael Varella, smash a vehicle's window and remove a bag from inside.
• Upon seeing the officer, Mr. Varella got in his vehicle and fled the lot at a high rate of speed. He traveled westbound on Central Avenue.
• Officer Gonzalez turned his vehicle around and attempted to catch up with Mr. Varella. As the officer crested the hill on Central Avenue, he observed Mr. Varella had struck the Dain's Lumber Building and was in the process of fleeing on foot.
• Mr. Varella hopped a fence and jumped into a brook that feeds the Hudson River. He was then observed running into a culvert which goes underneath the railroad tracks and exits in Riverfront Green Park.
• After a K9 search of the culvert and Riverfront Green Park by [the] Metro-North Police Department yielded negative results, it was believed that Mr. Varella had fled in an unknown direction.

Authorities were in touch with Varella's family members in an attempt to locate him, but efforts were unsuccessful, Johansen said.

The bag Varella was spotted carrying has not been found. 

"There were some aspects that popped up during our investigation that led us to believe this was not a randomly-targeted vehicle," Johansen said. "There was something in that vehicle that he thought was there and that he wanted to obtain."

The chief would not say what it was Varella was looking for, citing an ongoing investigation. He told reporters he didn't want "to give the impression that there's any thought of foul play."

Officials could not say whether Varella knew how to swim. His body was floating about half a mile from where he was last seen by police on Friday.

"We extend our sympathies to the Varella family," said Johansen. "As you can imagine, the family is devastated. We ask that the public give them support and the media give them privacy during this difficult time."