Queens homeowner who found woman’s remains hidden in son’s basement apartment trying to ‘wrap head around’ discovery
A Queens homeowner who found a woman’s remains hidden in his house’s basement spent Father’s Day grappling with the shock as his son was being questioned in the death.
Gilbert Legendre, 65, made the morbid discovery in his Laurelton home at 138th Ave. near Carson St. Saturday afternoon.
“I didn’t show what I found,” Legendre said of his interaction with police after calling 911. “I just see something there and I just closed it back up and called them. I see something, maybe bones.”
The homeowner lifted up a plywood board after noticing a foul odor while he was cleaning the basement where his son lived, then found a large hole with a plastic bag containing the remains, cops said Saturday.
Cops took Legendre’s 30-year-old son into custody when he returned home later in the day, police said. He has not yet been charged with a crime.
When asked about his son’s possible involvement Legendre grew flustered.
“Right now I’m just still having problems analyzing it, you know?” he said. “It’s Father’s Day. I’m just trying to see if I can wrap my head around this. My whole day is messed up.”
Police sources said the son suffers from schizophrenia. It’s suspected the remains belong to his former girlfriend, who also suffered from schizophrenia and disappeared more than four months ago, the sources said.
